U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was never formally interviewed by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department before being cleared of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to aย reportย from Real Clear Investigations.
He did, however, do a TV interview. During a friendly TV Interview on NBC Nightly News, Byrd told the interviewer that he didnโt know he shot a female or if she was armed.
At least one witness said Byrd never warned Mrs. Babbitt, an Air Force combat veteran, although he claimed the opposite on TV.
โDocs uncovered by Judicial Watch reveal that eyewitnesses told investigators they did not hear Byrd give Babbitt any verbal warnings prior to firing, contradicting what Byrd told NBC,โ Judicial Watch said inย Real Clear Investigations.
โI didnโt even know it was a female,โ he said. โUntil hours, way later. Sometime later on that night, before I even found out that it was a female.โ
โAnd because the call of โshots firedโ had gone out, you know, it was later I found out that the subject did not have a weapon. But there was no way to know that at that time.โ
Then what was the justification for shooting her?
Judicial Watch discovered through a Freedom of Information lawsuit that the Capitol Police Sergeant positioned behind Byrd did not see any weapons in the hands of Ashli Babbit when she climbed through the broken glass.
Byrd received a medal for that performance, along with sympathy from the Left, as if he was the victim.
THERE WAS NO FORMAL PROBE OR EVEN A STATEMENT
Paul Sperry, writing in Real Clear Investigations, reports that there was no formal investigation of Lt. Michael Byrd. Yet, he was cleared.
โIn fact, investigators cleared Byrd of wrongdoing in the shooting without actually interviewing him about the shooting or threatening him with punishment if he did not cooperate with their criminal investigation,โ Sperry writes.
โHe didnโt provide any statement to [criminal] investigators and they didnโt push him to make a statement,โ Babbitt family attorney Terry Roberts told RCI. โItโs astonishing how skimpy his investigative file is.โ
โMPD did not formally interview Lt. Byrd,โ deputy D.C. MPD communications director Kristen Metzger also said. And, โHe didnโt give a statement while under the U.S. Attorneyโs Office investigation.โ
Byrd declined to cooperate with D.C MPD Internal Affairs Divisionโs investigation, RCI reports. The U.S. Capitol Police, which reports directly to Congress, determined that โthe officerโs conduct was lawful and within department policy.โ
As an aside, who is this man in red who started the vandalism in this area? He was later standing next to Mrs. Babbitt when she was shot as was radical Leftist John Sullivan:
First broken window West Side of Capitol done by same guy in red jacket that we have been trying to identify for 10 months. Same guy was standing beside Ashli in Speaker’s Lobby. pic.twitter.com/lpOIkWQkIj
โ Justice For Ashli Babbitt (@ForAshli) January 18, 2022
Why did the police move away from the door as the crowd grew louder? Why did Byrd shoot with others in the line of fire? Did anyone recommend a prosecution? We don’t know.
At 5:46, you can listen to the Byrd interview.
These recordings and photos provide dramatic, first-hand evidence that the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt was unjustified. It is disturbing that neither the Pelosi Congress nor the Biden/Garland DOJ took no action over this needless death. https://t.co/fxcD1Zm07R pic.twitter.com/QL858bJdr0
โ Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) November 18, 2021
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