The United States Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021 reportedly received preferential treatment from law enforcement after pressure from Democratic lawmakers.
Internal emails show House Democrats relied on U.S. Capitol Police to rescue Lt. To provide extraordinary financial and professional support to Michael Byrd, the officer who fatally shot unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt Just the news.
House Democrats pressured the U.S. Capitol Police to provide special financial support and even a promotion to the officer who fatally shot unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot, resulting in Tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer and charitable funds were not passed on to other officials. according to internal emails reviewed by Just the News.
“He is very upset about the way he is being treated. He wants us to find out now,” Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, a senior congressional aide to the then-chairman of the House Budget Subcommittee, wrote to Capitol Police in November 2021, urging more support for Lt. Michael Byrd after killing Babbitt.
The records show that pressure also came from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff and then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, prompting Capitol Police to find any solution possible to keep Byrd and Democrats cheerful close. Despite the extraordinary assist, Byrd expressed dissatisfaction and continued to insist that he deserved more, to the chagrin of Capitol Police officers, according to documents compiled by Congress.
“We play the game as you wish, and once we comply, you change the rules for us,” Byrd wrote to US Capitol Police General Counsel Thomas DiBiase in November 2021, after being told that he could not immediately access charitable funds from a memorial fund for fallen or wounded officers.
Benefits for Byrd included a $37,000 retention bonus, security upgrades and assistance in raising over $164,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. This is far more than any other official present at the insurrection received from the agency. Still, Byrd wasn’t satisfied.
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These revelations come from an investigation by the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee led by Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), which criticized the USCP’s actions.
“In addition to the USCP’s decision to promote Byrd despite his disciplinary history, I also have concerns about the decisions the USCP made regarding Byrd after January 6, 2021,” Loudermilk wrote in a letter to the Capitol Police chief, Thomas Manger.
The chairman pointed out that the Capitol Police “went to the extreme and gave bonuses to officers who are on the front lines of the fight, which was a few thousand dollars – Byrd gets one of $37,000, okay, that’s it.” not equivalent.”
Just the News reviewed emails that revealed extensive efforts to provide Byrd with various benefits, including security upgrades to his Maryland home that cost $21,899 and an offer to promote him to captain even though he is ineligible was.
In his correspondence with Byrd, DiBiase noted that the officers injured in the 2017 assassination attempt on Republican lawmakers at a baseball game were paid similar amounts.
“David Bailey and Crystal Griner received $52,000 and $63,000, respectively, from the [Memorial Fund]“, he wrote.
Byrd responded by criticizing the speed at which financial support came. He said it was “obviously wrong to treat us like this” and complained that he was being “lumped in with everyone else.”
Byrd was eventually promoted to captain in 2023 despite coming off a lengthy disciplinary record. “I think people should really think about the earlier question, which is whether he should have been on the police force,” Loudermilk noted.
None of this is surprising if you’re familiar with the hypocrisy of the left – especially when it comes to law enforcement. When news of Babbitt’s murder broke, Democrats immediately began supporting “The Blue” and celebrated Byrd’s unnecessary decision to open fire on her even though she was unarmed. Some leftists even she mocked because he was killed during the uprising.
The reaction was a far cry from what typically happens when an officer wrongfully shoots an unarmed black man. Apparently, if the victim is a white Trump supporter, officers are fine with using lethal force, even if it’s not necessary.
But in this case, Democrats went even further and did everything they could to accommodate the corrupt official who took Babbitt’s life. The fact that he received preferential treatment over the officers wounded in the incident shows how political the entire situation was.
