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Cop Who Killed Ashli Babbitt Was Cleared of Criminal Wrongdoing Without Interview
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:29 am
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:29 am
When U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd went on “NBC Nightly News” to tell his side of shooting and killing unarmed Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, he made a point to note he’d been investigated by several agencies and exonerated for his actions that day.
“There’s an investigative process [and] I was cleared by the DOJ [Department of Justice], and FBI and [the D.C.] Metropolitan Police,” he told NBC News anchor Lester Holt in August, adding that the Capitol Police also cleared him of wrongdoing and decided not to discipline or demote him for the shooting.
Byrd then answered a series of questions by Holt about the shooting, but what he told the friendly journalist, he likely never told investigators. That’s because he refused to answer their questions, according to several sources and documents reviewed by RealClearInvestigations.
In 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.
“He didn’t provide any statement to [criminal] investigators and they didn’t push him to make a statement,” Babbitt family attorney Terry Roberts said in an RCI interview. “It’s astonishing how skimpy his investigative file is."
Roberts, who has spoken with the D.C. MPD detective assigned to the case, said the kid-glove treatment of Byrd raises suspicions the investigation was a “whitewash.”
“MPD did not formally interview Lt. Byrd,” deputy D.C. MPD communications director Kristen Metzger said. And, “He didn’t give a statement while under the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation.”
After Byrd declined to cooperate with D.C MPD Internal Affairs Division’s investigation, which was led by Det. John Hendrick, his case eventually was turned over to the USCP for a final administrative review of whether or not his actions conformed with department policies and training.
Byrd remains the commander in charge of security for the House of Representatives.
Byrd waited to speak publicly until after his statements could no longer be used against him in a criminal probe. The heavily promoted NBC “exclusive” told only his account of what happened with no opposing viewpoints. “I believe I showed the utmost courage on Jan. 6,” Byrd said.
LINK
“There’s an investigative process [and] I was cleared by the DOJ [Department of Justice], and FBI and [the D.C.] Metropolitan Police,” he told NBC News anchor Lester Holt in August, adding that the Capitol Police also cleared him of wrongdoing and decided not to discipline or demote him for the shooting.
Byrd then answered a series of questions by Holt about the shooting, but what he told the friendly journalist, he likely never told investigators. That’s because he refused to answer their questions, according to several sources and documents reviewed by RealClearInvestigations.
In 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.
“He didn’t provide any statement to [criminal] investigators and they didn’t push him to make a statement,” Babbitt family attorney Terry Roberts said in an RCI interview. “It’s astonishing how skimpy his investigative file is."
Roberts, who has spoken with the D.C. MPD detective assigned to the case, said the kid-glove treatment of Byrd raises suspicions the investigation was a “whitewash.”
“MPD did not formally interview Lt. Byrd,” deputy D.C. MPD communications director Kristen Metzger said. And, “He didn’t give a statement while under the U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation.”
After Byrd declined to cooperate with D.C MPD Internal Affairs Division’s investigation, which was led by Det. John Hendrick, his case eventually was turned over to the USCP for a final administrative review of whether or not his actions conformed with department policies and training.
Byrd remains the commander in charge of security for the House of Representatives.
Byrd waited to speak publicly until after his statements could no longer be used against him in a criminal probe. The heavily promoted NBC “exclusive” told only his account of what happened with no opposing viewpoints. “I believe I showed the utmost courage on Jan. 6,” Byrd said.
LINK
7
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:30 am to Jbird
SHOCKED [NOT SHOCKED]
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:33 am to Jbird
If I was her husband, there would be a reckoning!
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:35 am to Jbird
Is the family suing him and the capitol police?
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:39 am to Jbird
If the races were flipped imagine the outrage. Typical double standard by the media.
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:40 am to LSUROXS
quote:
If I was her husband, there would be a reckoning!
What if you were the other woman in their throuple?
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:40 am to Jimmy2shoes
quote:
Is the family suing him and the capitol police?
Roberts and the Babbitt family are preparing to sue Byrd and the Capitol Police in a wrongful-death claim seeking at least $10 million in damages. Asked why his client chose not to go on the record and cooperate with investigators, Byrd’s attorney, Mark Schamel, declined comment. In an earlier interview, Schamel maintained the shooting was justified and that there is no basis for a civil case against his client.
The federal investigation of the lethal shooting was marked by secrecy and other irregularities. Unlike other officers involved in fatal shootings of unarmed civilians, Byrd was long shielded from public scrutiny after shooting Babbitt as she tried to climb through a broken window of a barricaded door at the Capitol. For eight months D.C. police officials withheld Byrd’s identity, first revealed by RealClearInvestigations, and they have not released a formal review of the shooting, or the 28-year veteran's disciplinary records. Nor did the Capitol Police hold a briefing on Babbitt's death. Records uncovered by Judicial Watch reveal authorities ordered her body cremated two days after the shooting, without her husband's permission.
Roberts said Babbitt, a former military police officer who served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, would have complied with commands to stop and peacefully surrendered had Byrd or other Capitol officers attempted to arrest her. But he said additional eyewitnesses he’s interviewed say Byrd never gave her such verbal commands. He said Babbitt wasn’t even aware that the officer was nearby because he was positioned in a doorway of a room off to the side of the Speaker’s Lobby doors. Byrd, whose mouth was covered with a surgical mask, took aim outside her field of vision and fired as her head emerged through the window. Roberts compared her shooting to an “execution.”
“Killing her by shooting her at point-blank range was completely unnecessary,” he said. “This alone renders the shooting legally unjustified.”
Roberts pointed out that Byrd had mishandled his firearm in the past. He was the subject of a previous internal investigation for leaving his loaded service pistol in a Capitol restroom. It’s not clear if he was disciplined. At the time, the lieutenant reportedly told officers he would not be punished due to his high rank, which he kept despite the incident. But in the NBC interview, he said he was “penalized” for the 2019 misstep, without elaborating. A USCP spokeswoman declined to respond to repeated requests for information about any discipline administered for his misconduct.
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:43 am to Jbird
Just a black police officer murdering a white unarmed female veteran.
Nothing to see here.
Nothing to see here.
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:43 am to Jimmy2shoes
Before filing a lawsuit naming a federal agency, Roberts has to send a formal complaint for a claim for “damage, injury or death” — known as a federal form SF-95 — to USCP and wait for a response. He sent the notice in May and is still waiting for the Capitol Police to reply.
“We have received the SF-95 from Ms. Babbitt’s family attorney,” USCP General Counsel Tad DiBiase confirmed to RCI in an email. He declined to say how the department plans to respond: “I cannot comment on that."
In the meantime, Roberts said he is interviewing witnesses and also building a case from documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act.
“I am still reviewing records obtained in FOIA action and there are more coming,” he said. “I am in no rush."
“We have received the SF-95 from Ms. Babbitt’s family attorney,” USCP General Counsel Tad DiBiase confirmed to RCI in an email. He declined to say how the department plans to respond: “I cannot comment on that."
In the meantime, Roberts said he is interviewing witnesses and also building a case from documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act.
“I am still reviewing records obtained in FOIA action and there are more coming,” he said. “I am in no rush."
Posted on 1/12/22 at 7:47 am to Jbird
Of course. Why would they prosecute someone for doing what they specifically paid him to do. He was PAID to shoot that day. They agreed to all of that days before.
Posted on 1/12/22 at 8:09 am to omegaman66
It's just mindboggling how so much coverage and public anger is displayed when a piece of shite thug is shot by police while trying to apprehend him/her and yet Ashli was not armed, nor was she an imminent threat to Michael Byrd and this murderer is hailed a hero.
It feels like we're in a fictional movie where the bad guys are getting away with all sorts of crimes and the viewer wants the good guys to take out all the bad guys. That emotion is shared with millions, I'm sure.
That's why we need to get rid of the Democrats from now on. Vote anything but Democrat!
It feels like we're in a fictional movie where the bad guys are getting away with all sorts of crimes and the viewer wants the good guys to take out all the bad guys. That emotion is shared with millions, I'm sure.
That's why we need to get rid of the Democrats from now on. Vote anything but Democrat!
Posted on 1/12/22 at 8:17 am to Jbird
quote:
“I believe I showed the utmost courage on Jan. 6,” Byrd said.
WOW
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