Trump's DOJ paid nearly $5 million to Ashli Babbitt's family for what Capitol Police did on January 6.
Now 46 more January 6 patriots filed an $18 million lawsuit – and they have something the Babbitt case never had.
The police put it on video themselves.
Capitol Police Excessive Force Lawsuit Targets What They Said on Camera
A federal class action filed in Florida is seeking $18 million from Capitol Police and the DC Metropolitan Police Department – and the most damaging evidence against them is their own words on camera.
At 1:06 p.m. on January 6, 2021, officers began launching chemical munitions, flashbang grenades, and impact projectiles into the crowd assembled on the Capitol's West Front.
Officers kept firing for more than 70 minutes.
At 2:18 p.m. – more than an hour into the shooting – DC police Sgt. Edwards admitted on video to his commander that their munitions were hitting innocent people.
The lawsuit alleges no dispersal warnings were issued beforehand, in direct violation of the District of Columbia's First Amendment Assemblies Act, which requires three warnings before force is used on protesters.
Pepper balls, sting-ball grenades, flashbangs, chemical agents, and Billy clubs to the head – all of it unleashed on people who hadn't been warned, faced no criminal charges, and were standing on the West Terrace exercising their constitutional right to protest the certification of the 2020 election.
J6 Class Action Lawsuit Seeks $18 Million in Damages
The 46 named plaintiffs are just the start.
Lead plaintiff A.J. Fischer is an Air Force veteran who received a presidential pardon from Trump after being charged in connection with his actions that day.
Patrick and Marie Sullivan of Citrus County, Florida, were standing in the crowd on the West Front. They were hit with pepper balls and exposed to chemical agents. They were never charged with any crime.
Attorney Stephen Austin Carr of New Smyrna Beach filed the case under the Federal Tort Claims Act – the same legal vehicle that allowed Babbitt's estate to collect nearly $5 million from the government last year.
The lawsuit asks the court to certify the class, covering every person on the Capitol grounds who were struck by weapons or exposed to chemicals deployed by law enforcement.
That class could number in the hundreds – potentially thousands.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul Byron in the Middle District of Florida.
Why the Babbitt Settlement Changed Everything
When Trump's DOJ settled Ashli Babbitt's wrongful death lawsuit for nearly $5 million last May, it didn't just compensate one family – it set a legal precedent that law enforcement conduct on January 6 is actionable.
Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the Babbitt settlement sends "a chilling message to law enforcement nationwide."
What he called chilling, every J6 patriot who was chemically burned or concussed without warning calls justice.
The $1.25 million settlement with Michael Flynn added another data point.
Trump's DOJ has made clear it will not defend conduct that – by the officers' own recorded admission – injured innocent people who were never warned, never charged, and never given a chance to leave.
Nancy Pelosi National Guard Denial Cost January 6 Protesters Everything
Here is what the Democrat Party's own $20 million January 6 Select Committee spent three years trying to bury.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund requested National Guard assistance on January 3 – two days before the riot.
Pelosi's Sergeant at Arms denied it.
On January 6, with the chaos already underway, Sund made urgent requests for the Guard again.
Pelosi's Sergeant at Arms denied those too – for over 70 minutes.
Sund said it publicly: "On January 6, while the Capitol was under attack and despite my repeated calls, your Sergeant at Arms again denied my urgent requests for over 70 agonizing minutes, 'running it up the chain' for your approval."
And when HBO cameras caught Pelosi being evacuated from the Capitol that day, she told her chief of staff exactly what happened: "They clearly didn't know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepared for more."
Liz Cheney's committee had that footage and never released it. Republicans went directly to HBO to get it.
So here is where we are.
Capitol Police – under a chain of command that ran through Pelosi's office – fired chemical munitions into a crowd for over an hour.
Their own sergeant admitted on video they were hitting innocent people.
And they kept shooting.
The DC Metropolitan Police Department declined to comment on this lawsuit.
Capitol Police also declined to comment.
The video is the video.
Sources:
- Ben Kew, "J6 Protesters Sue Capitol Police For 'Indiscriminate' Use of Force, Seek Tens of Millions in Damages," The Gateway Pundit, March 30, 2026.
- "Florida Residents Sue U.S. Government Over Jan. 6 Police Force," SJO Daily, March 31, 2026.
- "Participants in Jan. 6 US Capitol Riot File Lawsuit in Florida Against DC Police," WLRN, March 30, 2026.
- Spencer S. Hsu, "Ashli Babbitt Wrongful-Death Suit to Be Settled for Nearly $5 Million," The Washington Post, May 19, 2025.
- "Justice Department to Pay $5 Million to Family of Ashli Babbitt," The 19th, May 19, 2025.
