On Thursday, Lt. Michael Byrd spoke publicly for the first time, identifying himself as the officer who fatal shot Ashli Babbitt during the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6.
“I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd told NBC Nightly News during a sit down interview. “I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger. And that’s my job.”
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from San Diego, was shot by Byrd when she tried to climb through a door to get into the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House chamber. The door’s glass had been smashed out as she and others in the mob tried to get inside.
You can watch Byrd’s complete comments here:
Byrd has been cleared cleared of any wrongdoing but his name had been previously withheld by authorities over safety concerns.
Or you can just watch Tucker Carlson’s comments here.
He said he yelled repeatedly for the rioters to get back and that shooting was a “last resort,” he told NBC.
“I tried to wait as long as I could,” he told the news station. “I hoped and prayed no one tried to enter through those doors. But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers.”
Related Story — Aaron Babbitt to Newsmax: DC, Media Ran Cover for Officer Who Killed My Wife
Video showed Byrd firing the shot. Babbitt’s death has since become a rallying cry for the far right and Byrd began receiving racist attacks and death threats.
Here's the video of the Capitol police shooting Ashli Babbitt as she and others attempted to break into the Speaker's Lobby (a warning about viewing this)
the clip is from this much longer YouTube account of the entire mob, riot of the Capitol.https://t.co/RjENzRn2wb pic.twitter.com/XzOkcCUgls
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) January 8, 2021
Washington attorney Mark Schamel said his client’s actions were “unbelievable heroism.”
“He stopped them from coming through to the hallway and into the chamber,” Schamel said, RealClearWire reported. “He stopped a potential massacre.”
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“He stopped them from coming through to the hallway and into the chamber,” Schamel said, RealClearWire reported. “He stopped a potential massacre.”
There were no calls to stop the Black Rioters from entering buildings or taking over police precincts to ‘save lives’.
If she were a Black BLM Rioter and the cop were White, this would be an entirely different story. And this cop would be doing his interview from his prison cell.
He should be locked in the same cell that Epstein didn’t commit suicide in.
This stinking coward liar should be hung in the public square. He was in soooo much danger from this unarmed woman half his size, he had to kill her. Loathsome cretin.
Bait, LET HER FAMILY be the ones to build the gallows, AND PULL the lever!
Absolutely! How was this “massacre” to be accomplished, since the ONLY people ARMED were the po-po, hand-choking people until their eyes bugged out? Why was there ONLY one UNARMED protestor shot? The horned guy was sitting in Pelosick’s seat with officers all around, and NOBODY shot him, or the guy attempting to exit the building carrying a podium! This whole “INSURRECTION” nonsense is laughable on its face. These twits need to go to Afghanistan and take part in a real INSURRECTION and get back to us IF they survive!
SO this HACK, who was in NO JEOPARDY HIMSELF< gets "cleared of all wrong doing", while TWO COPS IN ATLANTA WHO ACTUALLY WERE BEING BEATEN UP, and shot at by a thug, get JAILED for 'protecting themselves, and killing their attacker'??
HOW BUGGERED UP is our injustice system….
Exactly.
This person is no hero. He’s the idiot who left his side arm in a men’s bathroom, loaded with the safety off, and because he was a lieutenant he was reviewed under a different set of criteria than standard grunt officer? He was never reprimanded.
And now he wants accolades from shooting a short, unarmed woman with one leg through a broken window of a clumsily barricaded door? And from a secured corner?
Without the humor, this reminds me of the episode of South Park where Uncle Jimbo and Ned take the boys hunting, and they declare that any shot is legitimate if you call out, “It’s comin’ right for us!”
No, this clown is a coward, and he didn’t save any lives that day with his act of cowardliness. He ended a life, without any reason and quite obviously, without any regret.
We don’t have a real justice system. We have, instead, a legal system.
Yet THIS ‘incredibly brave mall cop’ shot an UNARMED female who apparently was ‘death incarnate’, and was apparently threatening the ENTIRE DC area by stepping up to a door? What a loathsome slug, first by doing the shooting, then having the gall to make up some ******** about “saving thousands of lives”? Normally, I SUPPORT the police, but THIS slimy thing I DON’T consider a valid police officer! Hide your head in SHAME!
More and more, i am having a hard time, defending ANY COPS, with the amount of BULL, i am seeing them pull on us..
All because “WE woz just followin orders man… “
More and more, i am having a hard time, defending ANY COPS, with the amount of BULL, i am seeing them pull on us..
You can always call on ANTIFA or Black Lives Matter if dislike cops so much.
IMO, the Capitol Police, run by Nancy Pelosi, should not be confused with real cops.
ITS not jus the capital pigs though. WHat of those cops in florida, at that one school who were there to HARASS PARENTS at a school board meeting, ON BEHALF of the school board. OR those cops up in oregon, helping to PUNISH parents and kids, who refused to wear a mask?
SORRY< But by their OWN ACTIONS< MANY cops are getting into that "WE ARE NOT YOUR ALLY" category.
” ‘AAron Babbitt, ” Speaking about the unarmed young girl shot to death , ” …their failure to complyrequired me to take the appropriate action… ” The fly sat upon the axel –tree of the chariot wheel and said, What a dust I do raise ! ” Alsepot Fables
Aesop Fables the Quore about the Fly…above
This guy is a murderer in my eyes. Lethal force as a last resort. Put him on trial like all the other Cops that they persecute. Let him have his day in court. He will have to answer before GOD and then we see. Murderer
For any chance of justice, the trial would need to be moved to a state which was part of the Constitutional Republic. DC has its own set of rules, which rarely touch on legal, justice or the Constitution. But I agree, the findings regarding his use of force tell you all you need to know about DC “law”.
SINCE its not a state though (at least not yet). HOW CAN IT HAVE ITS own set of rules/judges etc?
I fail to see where this unarmed woman would have produced a potential massacre, it was found that the protestestors were unarmed. This was murder nothing less. If this were a true insurrection then it would have been a bloody massacre.
AND if it was “just” to shoot an UNARMED WOMAN.. THEN WHY WAS it ‘Abuse of power/ excessive force, for cops, who WERE LITERALLY BEING BEATEN, having rocks, and molotov cocktails thrown at them, and FIREWORKS FIRED at them, to shoot BACK WITH MERELY TEAR GAS, during the riots we all witnessed last year!?
Oh yes. Take a flippin’ bow. You’re a real HERO!
You shot an unarmed woman, wrapped in an American flag, from a safe position and then retreated behind the door. What a guy!
I have a another word for the only person to fire a shot out of the hundreds of armed personnel on duty: Panicked.
“Buck-buck-buckawwww!”
YOU made it a “deadly” day. A wooden pistol would be a better fit.
A wooden pistol or else one bullet with instructions to keep it in his pocked until needed. Definitely a black Barney Fife.
“Panicked.” Or, amped up on adrenaline and not ‘feeling the pressure’ he was applying to that WRONGFULLY engaged trigger! BTW, this is by far NOT the first time an ‘unintentional discharge’ under duress has occurred. To illustrate: Three police officers had a suspect captured, two officers had him face down on the concrete, hands behind his back, applying the cuffs. The third officer standing about 8-10 feet away was pointing her weapon in the direction of the three, her two pals, and the perp, who was now all but in handcuffs. The real “gunnies” of us watching the video we’re waiting for the BOOM! WHY? That officer still pointing her gun in the direction of the three had ‘her BOOM actuator’ fully on that bullet launcher. She also appeared to be still amped up over whatever went down in getting this perp down, and the BOOM came – by God’s Grace, nobody got dead or even shot, the bullet hit the concrete just slightly in front of and to the right of those three still on the ground! That female officer, hopefully, rides a desk UNARMED, as should this ‘gunny’ that is a danger to himself and others! He should be facing the same charges as that Officer having shot some perp after mistaking her firearm for her taser!!
Over the past 3+ years, we’ve literally seen cops who were DEFENDING themselves, against perps shooting at the cops, when they tried to serve warrants, and had to Shoot BACK to defend themselves.. BUT STILL GOT CHARGED with a crime..
So how in gods name, IS THAT “excessive force”, when they LITERALLY WERE DEFENDING THEMSELVES.
BUT its not excessive force, for this MURDERER to execute an UNARMED WOMAN from 30 feet away, when in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM< was his 'life in jeopardy!"
This was first, teach them a lesson, and second deliberately picking a white victim to send that message as well. This was racial hate pure and simple. Well at least we know who it was, and soon where it lives. I would suggest it not go out for dinner or a show. It may find a gathering more to the Antifa style if it steps out. Just passing on my friends opinion.
Excellent representation of a ‘chicken!’ lol
Real men don’t shot and kill unarmed women
When was it ever legal to kill someone to prevent a potential crime?
How were these unarmed people going to massacre anyone?
Intended to infect them with COVID! Failing that, choking was the next option.
Especially when we’ve LITERALLY seen cops, being told “YOU CANNOT USE EVEN TEAR GAS, to dispurse unruly MOBS, even when those mobs are FIRING Fireworks, and throwing molotov cocktails at you…
It seems very strange that this guy didn’t shoot at the guys that were bashing the glass with implements. He seemingly picked the one person in the area with empty hands.
Theory: This guy and SWAT watch the anti-F.A. guys smash the windows. But anti-F.A. don’t want to go in. They want a MAGA to go in. Ashli Babbitt gets funneled to the front of the window. Just like outside when the anti-F.A. guys broke windows and tried to force Trump supporters through.
Which makes you wonder, HOW DID THE SWAT/Cap police, know WHO WAS THE MAGA folks, vs who were the Anti-FA folks..
Humm… A Black cop shoots an unarmed White female to death and it is justified by Democrats.
“But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers.” He said he yelled repeatedly for the rioters to get back and that shooting was a “last resort,”
Just exactly how many members of Congress and police officers were hurt in any way?
Maybe like AOC says she feared for her life during Capitol riot: ‘I thought I was going to die’.
The Democrat said it’s “not an exaggeration” to say that many members of the House were nearly assassinated.
BUT: Critics said Ocasio-Cortez exaggerated the danger she was in, noting that she was not in the Capitol building breached by rioters, but a nearby office building. Some said she lied. But Ocasio-Cortez never claimed in the video that she was in the Capitol.
Ocasio-Cortez was in the Cannon House Office Building, which was evacuated. She described fearing for her life as an unknown man — who turned out to be a Capitol Police officer — knocked on her door and entered her office.
OK, now if the Black Lives Matter rioters who are rioting, burning and looting do not comply with police officers orders to get back, then it is justified to shoot them and the police officers will be cleared of any wrongdoing….. Right??
You can bet had HE BEEN white, and Babbit been black, he not only WOULD HAVE BEEN immediately fired, but likely he’d have already BEEN CHARGED and convicted of murder…
BUT BECAUSE THE RACES are reversed, its “ALL GOOD”.
LT. Michael Byrd, a Black Capital Police Man, Shot and killed a
Iittle White , Unarmed, White Female, Janurary 6th. 2021 At the Capital that day. I suspose that L T. Michael Byrd Is entitled to his ‘ Bragging Rights’ for shoting and killing a little , unarmed, White, female but this killing of an unatmed little female, appeared to many, including these posters, like a unjust killing. This killing of a unarmed female by LT. Michael Byrd, reminded me of a once popular English Nursery Rhyme, titled, ” Little Jack Horner, “which goes like this, ” Little Jack Honer, sat in a corner, eating his Christmas pie, He stuck in his thumb, and Pulled out A plum, and said, What A Good Boy am I. ” From ” Wikipedia “First Mentioned In the 18th. Century, it was early associated with acts of opportunism, partunism, particularly in politics…” And as it probably , in part, was done by A Black Capita Hilll police Man.
He’s probably getting lots of props, from his “HOMIES in Da hood”..
“I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd told NBC Nightly News during a sit down interview. “I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger. And that’s my job.” Assessing the validity of the perceived threat is also part of your job. You were not fired upon—nor were you threatened—nor was anyone else.
It is abundantly clear now why the long delay in divulging the identity of the officer—a Black cop killed a White woman—an unarmed White woman who was posing no threat. So, where is the George Floyd crowd when the tables are turned? Why is the Media not beating this to death?
“He said he yelled repeatedly for the rioters to get back and that shooting was a “last resort,” he told NBC. There were multiple “rioters” and shooting an unarmed one averted a major incident?
This guy is a delusional *******.
It was reported that this ‘gunny’ was highly agitated after he shot Ashli Babbitt. He since has attempted to justify his ‘unjustifiable actions by claiming to have “prevented some massacre.” My contention, which this officer will NOT want to own up to, is his shooting of this woman was UNINTENTIONAL! As opposed to an intentional discharge of deadly force, this was an INADVERTENT, unfelt until the recoil, discharge. As noted elsewhere, this ‘gunny’ was so amped up with adrenaline that he had no feeling for what he was doing in launching that which he could NOT call back!
Seems if you are black there is no racism in the crime committed, nor is there misogyny in the crime committed. Boy if this guy was white and she was black this could replace the Covid scandal that is smearing the news media. This guy needs to go on trial by a jury of his peers. Where’s the white women at? not supporting this kind of attack. I guess fake rape insinuations are more credible.
Unforunately, you are right. We’ve literally seen blacks STOMPING ON WHITE FOLK, all the while shouting “KILL THAT CRACKER” and the like, and its NEVER EVER seen as a hate crime..
BUT if a white person, even if he killed half a dozen WHITE AND OTHER Folks, but also killed ONE BLACK, while doing that, ITS INSTANTLY LOOKED AT as a hate crime…
This murderer is so full of ****, I can almost smell him from here.
The guy needs to go to jail he is a criminal and a disgrace to any police department! If this was one of any of these so called representatives family members or your family member how would they/ you feel? Furthermore if the tables were turned and it was a 6’2” white cop and a 5’2” unarmed black female there would be burning down of cities and blood in the streets!
So much for justice being blind!
Perhaps even an attempt to BURN DOWN that Capitol building?
Justice these days, is not blind, but BRAIN DEAD.
Nice speech he made but it doesn’t ring true. An unarmed woman was short and it sounds like she must have carrying an AK-47 randomly attacking anyone in her way. I think it wa \s a random shot into the crowd without a clear view of the target, now made to sound totallyappropriate.
NOT “random” just UNINTENTIONAL due to that adrenaline dump under duress.
Funny how this guy was the ONLY ONE to fire on the group. If this guy was supposedly in so much danger, what were the half-dozen heavily armed SWAT guys standing BEHIND the group in the video doing? Notice that when Babbett fell to the floor, there were SWAT Officers right there. Also notice the guy in the suit (FBI?) with a black COVID mask standing there beside a Capitol Police officer WITH the group THE ENTIRE TIME, then the suit starts giving direction to the SWAT Officers as they assist Babbett after she was shot.
Exactly so! With ‘team SWAT’ right at that point of entry, NOBODY but this shooter and the SWAT team were ARMED. Exactly how was there to be some “massacre?” I contend that this ‘gunny’ was so amped up with that adrenaline rush that occurs whenever that fight or flight response kicks in that the shot that killed Ashli Babbitt was INADVERTENTLY launched, no matter what this ‘Officer’ claims. When that adrenaline dump happens several problems ensue, you get tunnel vision, you lose fine motor skills such as feeling how much pressure you are applying to that +-5 lb bullet launcher! That shot occurs just as this ‘gunny’ stops his momentum toward his perceived threat, and I maintain that until he experienced the recoil he was UNAWARE that he had MASHED that trigger! There is at least one photo that shows this guy, with his left arm loaded down with papers, having already drawn his weapon, trigger engaged, with his fellow officers in FRONT of him. As I previously said, Ashli might be alive today had this ‘gunny’ shot one of his own?? This Officer should, at least, be riding a desk UNARMED, and at best facing the same charges as that Officer who shot some perp after mistaking her firearm for her taser!
I believe he was making a point, and deliberately picked a white to be his victim. That all fits what happened just as well as any other scenario. The difference is that it elevates it to a racially motivated hate crime. Which is exactly what a white PO would have been immediately charged with had he been white and the victim black.
Exactly. WHY WERE NONE Of those other dozens of officers, who were armed, SHOOTING “IF everyones life was in jeopardy’??
WHY WAS IT ONLY THIS ONE murderer who fired!?
And firewater.. IF this guy was ‘accidental’ in his firing’ of his weapon, THEN ITS A NEGLIGENT DISCHARGE, which led to manslaughter.. ERGO that should be a crime..
My husband was 37 years law enforcement and we say that coward is FULL OF SHIFF! He had no probable cause to use his badge to Murder that young lady veteran. He needs to be charged and prosecuted!
The Democorrupts’ political theater is astounding! It’s so obviously concocted out of pure garbage, that the only way it can work is with the aid of their lapdog media and the Hollyweird elites running interference for them. “Potential massacre?” only the sheeple with brain cell counts lower than a soccer score can believe it.
There is enough BS (and I don’t mean Boy Scouts) in this story being bantered about to fertilize at least two farms of a 150 acres each. Lt. Michael Byrd blew away an unarmed woman climbing through a broken window, so that makes the big tough Ubangi a hero because he single-handedly prevented a “massacre”! Give me a break. As for P[gliosi, AOC and all the rest of the leftist commie scum bags, which includes many “so-called’ Republicans, actually have every right to fear for their worthless lives, but NOT from the folks who entered the Capitol Building January 6th, but from, if GOD WILLING, the Republicans wrest back control of OUR government. it is the GOD fearing Patriotic citizens that this present bunch of reprobates in Congress should fear because when they certified Biden/Harris the winners, knowing full well that there was massive voter fraud by the left, they knowingly and with malice of forethought, committed HIGH TREASON against the Constitution, the country and the people of the United States of America, and they know full well what the punishment for HIGH TREASON IS. And if they escape facing trial before a Military Tribunal, there is one Court of Justice they cannot escape from and that is before the Judgement seat of Almighty God.
I would like to know just who cleared Byrd of any wrongdoing, was it the Washington, D.C. Gestapo he worked for? perhaps they would like to make Byrd an honored member of the the Washington, D.C. SS.
More than likely, YES IT was the gestapo, ran by her furuher, pelosi, that pardoned him.
This “Officer” is as incompetent as those he pretends to ‘protect!’ He is the same guy that left his loaded Glock 22 in a Capitol men’s room, to be returned to him later by someone finding it. There is a photo of this ‘gunny’ before shooting Ashli loaded down in his left arm with papers and his handgun already drawn in his right hand. The key here is his trigger finger is already engaged with that BOOM actuator (trigger) with his fellow officers in FRONT of him. Ashli Babbitt might have been saved at the expense of his shooting, INADVERTENTLY, one of his own people! The same issue is shown in the shooting video, finger on trigger at all times while pointing his weapon to his right and then lunging out to confront Babbitt where, I maintain, the ‘INADVERTENT’ discharge happens. His claim that he ‘intentionally’ shot this woman is contrary to any training police officers receive. Character limited here, so defining all the issues involved with this UNFELT discharge I have outlined in several other posts, elsewhere. This ‘Officer’ violated all safe handgun presentation rules and should at least be riding a desk UNARMED! At best he should face the same charges as that police officer that killed a perp after having mistaken her handgun for her taser!!
Okay, first, no one but the cops were armed. Second, Byrd is the same jackazz who left his gun in the bathroom in the capitol building, why is he even still employed? Third, the only reason this piece of filth is going public is because he’s trying to legitimize his crime. By staying hidden, it sends the confirming message that what he did was wrong. By coming out, he’s trying to gain legitimacy.
More lying Democrat BS proven by videos we have seen that he is a scum bag killer. NO “rioter” had a gun. The politicians were already removed from the Chambers before he assassinated Ashli Babbitt. No one was shouting “death” or threatening harm even verbally. These corrupt people are killing and imprisoning innocent Americans and think they will get by with it because the corrupt Democrats are currently protecting them. WRONG//!! WRONG!! Hell on earth will visit them after the 2022 elections or sooner.
This Los needs to be Imprisoned on First Degree MURDER. NE is nothing more than a Cheap Thug that wanted to make a Name for himself and have everyone bendover a KISSS his Feet and pronounced a HERO.
How is it “unbelievable heroism” to shoot and kill a totally unarmed woman?? Is it just because we are trying to protect a black man who murdered a white woman? Instead of unbelievable heroism, this was actually a clear case of UNBELIEVABLY POOR JUDGEMENT on the part of this police officer. Why in the world are you using lethal force against a woman who has no weapon of any kind to threaten you with??
Our corrupt Government & the liberal Media can try to spin this ugly story any way they want, but the fact remains that hundreds of people entered the capital building that day, and not a single politician or police officer was killed inside that facility – except for the unarmed and totally harmless Ashli Babbitt!!
“….UNBELIEVABLY POOR JUDGEMENT on the part of this police officer.” This ‘gunny’ should have already been removed to a desk job, UNARMED, after leaving his loaded Glock 22 in a Capitol men’s room. It was only found and returned by SOMEONE else. Had this “Lt.” been properly punished, and DISARMED, through his unbelievable lack of attention to his weapon and its proper retention, our AF Vet would be alive, in all likelihood, today! Just more ‘feel-good’ slap on the wrist (if that) these smarmy criminal lovers apply that cost more lives!!
This Michael Byrd became a real life super hero – Forrest Gun. Intelligence and character are not among his powers.
Every so often a person calling themself a cop is really a PIG. Byrd is that person. Oink Oink Oink!
A PIG is an * in a Policeman’s uniform, I always say.
This is really so much BS it is astounding. Like Ashli Babbitt was a threat to the lives of others.
What was the unarmed Ms. Babbitt going to do – use the power of her MIND to kill the people her murderer claimed he saved? He’s a black cop who shot a white woman who was no imminent danger to him or anyone else and gets commended. Now if he had been a white cop who shot a black armed with a knife or gun….he’d be on trial.
“I know that day I saved countless lives,”. By murdering an unarmed protestor on the other side of a window from you? There is no way in a unbiased court of law you could talk your way out of a murder, or at least manslaughter charge. In DC there is no such thing as unbiased, let alone
due process in the legal sense.
Hell, most any leftist state, is that way… Not just DC.