Ashli Babbitt shooter to reveal identity to NBC News’ Lester Holt

The police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt, who took part in the pro-Trump invasion of the U.S. Capitol, will reveal his identity for the first time in a televised interview set to air Thursday evening.

The interview on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET, is set to air three days after the U.S. Capitol Police Department announced that it would not discipline the officer following an internal investigation of the Jan. 6 shooting.

The Department of Justice previously said it would not pursue criminal charges against the officer, whose identity has not been disclosed.

Babbitt, part of a mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, tried to climb through an opening in a broken glass door outside the Speaker’s lobby, which leads to the House chamber, the DOJ’s investigation found. The officer, who was inside the lobby, drew his service pistol and shot Babbitt once in the left shoulder, causing her to fall backward onto the floor. She was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she died.

Since her death, Babbitt has become a martyr on the far right. Online crowdfunding pages for her family have raised thousands of dollars. Former President Donald Trump earlier this month released a statement saying he spoke to Babbitt’s mother and claimed she was “murdered at the hands of someone who should never have pulled the trigger of his gun.”

The family of the 35-year-old Air Force veteran Babbitt has vowed to file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the police department and the officer who fired the gun. Babbitt’s family is also currently suing to force Washington to hand over records revealing the identity of the officer who shot her.

The Capitol police said Monday that the officer and his family “have been the subject of numerous credible and specific threats.”

Terrell Roberts, a lawyer for Babbitt’s family, questioned that finding in light of the forthcoming interview.

“Did the Capitol Police’s fear that by identifying the officer he would be exposed to grave danger just evaporate into thin air?” Roberts said in an email to CNBC.

The officer in the sit-down will “share his perspective on the events of that day, including the aftermath of the deadly insurrection and the threats he has received,” NBC said in a press release. 

He will also discuss the USCP’s conclusion that his actions in the Capitol during the riot were “lawful and within Department policy.”

That policy says an officer can only use deadly force when he or she “reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officer’s own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury.”

An earlier investigation was…