According to the New York Times, a board of inquiry has found insufficient evidence to charge the Capitol Police lieutenant who shot Ashli Babbitt, one of the domestic terrorists who had attacked the Capitol on January 6th.

The pro-Trump insurrectionist was crawling through a broken window on a door leading to the Speaker’s lobby which itself leads to the House chamber.  Babbitt refused to halt herself when the officer fired.  She was struck in the neck and died later at a Washington, DC hospital.

DC Police, Capitol Police and the Department of Justice have not commented on the investigation.  The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation, which is standard in an officer-involved shooting death.

Officers are permitted to use lethal force when having a reasonable fear for their safety or the safety of others.  In this case, a mob had assembled at the door leading to the Speaker’s lobby, and the Capitol Police officer was the only officer between the mob and the entrance to the House chamber.

In other parts of the Capitol, domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol were chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” and threats against other members of Congress, who were voting to certify the Electoral College slates from the states.  The insurrectionists’ attack on the Capitol intended to halt that Constitutional process.  Donald Trump has been impeached for incitement of the insurrection and will face trial in the Senate next week.