Has the identity of the officer who shot and killed 35-year-old Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion been an open secret among members of the legacy media for at least several months?
According to independent investigative journalist Tayler Hansen, the shooter is alleged to be Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.
Hansen identified Byrd as the gunman in a Twitter post on April 13 which, incidentally, was one day prior to the Department of Justice’s announcement that no charges would be filed against the individual who was responsible for Babbitt’s death. The new release announcing that decision did not reveal the officer’s name.
On July 3, Hansen posted a video that has since gone viral on social media. In the clip, Timothy Blodgett, the acting sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives, was speaking before a Feb. 21 hearing of the House Legislative Branch Subcommittee on the Capitol incursion and dropped Byrd’s name.
Blodgett tells lawmakers, “We were in close contact, that situation where Officer Byrd was at the door when Ms. Babbitt was shot. It was our sergeant-at-arms employee who rendered the aid to her.”
This statement places Byrd at the scene, but doesn’t actually “confirm” as Hansen claims, that Byrd pulled the trigger.
Sergeant At Arms, Timothy Blodgett goofed in a hearing and confirms Lieutenant Mike Byrd killed Ashli Babbitt.
He also claims his Sergeant at Arms employee rendered aid, he is lying. His employee touched her once, watched her bleed out, then contaminated the crime scene. https://t.co/M8uCWRKkfQ pic.twitter.com/lHxIfN0tz6
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) July 3, 2021
February 21st, 2021 CSPAN Hearing.
Around 40 minutes into the video. https://t.co/UAasBmMPIO
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) July 3, 2021
CSPAN also altered the text to leave Byrd’s name out. Not suspect AT ALL!
It’s past time to arrest Mike Byrd pic.twitter.com/h1JkZlW6JH
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) July 3, 2021
Although this video does not prove that Byrd was the shooter, it feeds speculation that Byrd was the gunman.
As BizPacReview noted, “according to some reports, Babbitt’s shooter was said to be wearing a beaded bracelet that looked like one Byrd wore as well.”
Videos from Jan. 6 showing the shooter’s arm reveal, at the very least, a similar beaded bracelet.
To answer Trump’s question…this is the guy who shot Ashli Babbitt.
An unarmed woman was executed from a hidden position by our government. pic.twitter.com/kL8ePRm8Lc
— Maze (@mazemoore) July 1, 2021
At RealClearInvestigations on Wednesday, investigative reporter Paul Sperry noted that previous speculation about the Babbitt shooting had already led to a Capitol Police officer being incorrectly identified as the gunman.
However, in that case, Sperry wrote, the Capitol Police issued a news release specifically denying that that particular officer was involved.
There has been no such denial in the Byrd case, Sperry reported.
“Phone calls and emails to Byrd, who lives in Maryland where he remains on paid administrative leave, went unanswered,” Sperry wrote. “His attorney would neither confirm nor deny that the 53-year-old Byrd is the shooter, and warned that disclosing his name poses a safety risk to the officer.”
The theory that Byrd might be the shooter gained steam in mid-June. Babbitt’s husband, Aaron Babbitt, and his attorney, Terrell Roberts, appeared on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
The three were speculating about the shooter’s identity. In February 2019, Roll Call reported that a U.S. Capitol Police officer had left his service weapon, a Glock 22, in a bathroom inside the Capitol Visitor Center complex.
It was found later by a second officer. Roll Call identified Byrd as the owner of the gun.
“Mr. Roberts, let me ask you, there are reports online, that seem credible, I don’t know if they’re true, that the Capitol Hill police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt, I’m not going to mention the name, was the same officer that left his loaded handgun in a public men’s room on the Capitol. Do you believe that is the same officer, it seems like a very reckless person, who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt on January 6th?” Carlson asked.
Roberts replied, “That’s my belief. That’s my belief.”
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Roberts said one reason the public isn’t being told who killed Ashli Babbitt is that the Capitol Police don’t have a good reason for why she was shot.
In nearly every police-involved shooting, the identity of the officer is immediately revealed publicly and a full investigation ensues to determine if he or she acted appropriately under the circumstances.
That hasn’t been the case with the Babbitt shooting.
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The April 14 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia that announced that no charges would be filed against the officer responsible for her death omitted the officer’s name but provided no explanation for doing so, or even acknowledge that no name was included.
The release explained that not only would prosecutors have to prove not only that “the officer used force that was constitutionally unreasonable, but that the officer did so ‘willfully,’ which the Supreme Court has interpreted to mean that the officer acted with a bad purpose to disregard the law. As this requirement has been interpreted by the courts, evidence that an officer acted out of fear, mistake, panic, misperception, negligence, or even poor judgment cannot establish the high level of intent required under Section 242.”
The DOJ’s decision sparked no riots, no looting, and no destruction.
It left only the realization that equal justice in America is a fairy tale.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
