In the chaotic minutes before he shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, Lt. Michael Byrd focused his attention on the glass doors leading into the lobby of the House of Representatives chamber.
About 60 to 80 House members and staffers were holed up inside, and it was Byrd’s job to protect them.
As rioters rampaged through the Capitol, Byrd and a few other officers of the U.S. Capitol Police set up a wall of furniture outside the doors.
“Once we barricaded the doors, we were essentially trapped where we were,” Byrd said in an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt, speaking publicly for the first time since the riot. “There was no way to retreat. No other way to get out.
“If they get through that door, they’re into the House chamber and upon the members of Congress,” added Byrd, who gave NBC News permission to use his name after authorities had declined to release it.
Read more at NBC News.
{Matzav.com}
Don’t believe what he is saying. Does he have a body camera and or witnesses showing that he screamed multiple times at her to get down.
If what he is saying IS true that there were false reports coming over the POLICE radio of an officer having his fingers blown always and gun shots then you really need a massive investigation and firing of the capital police.
I used to be more sympathetic to the guy who killed Babbit. But the more I hear and see from him the less I think he was right .
Watching the video you see it wasn’t so easy for her to get into the window. Had he clobbered her on the head with a club she would have stopped. No one would have followed her. Or could have. The few people in the “crowd” behind her were too big to fit in the window. Plus there were plenty of police behind her.
Shooting a woman climbing through a window who may or may not have been armed is not excusable. Pepper spray would have stopped her. A taser would have stopped her. All the critics of white officers who use deadly force against African Americans – even when clearly justified – are oddly silent about the brutality of this takedown.
Could it be because in this case, the officer was black and the victim was white?
Obviously.
It’s very sad and unfortunate that she was shot but if you watch the video, there was no justification for smashing thru the glass of those doors and breaching the doorway. That whole raid on the Capital was a massive mistake that accomplished nothing.
So, is the fascist dog saying that if the great-unwashed get within a certain distance of a patrician member of congress, even without any threats of bodily injury to the above member of congress, it is completely justified to murder the above mentioned plebians, just to keep away their unwashed stench from the sensitive nostrils of a patrician?!
I look forward to having angry and firearm-carrying plebeians gathering a mob in front to your house, then smashing your windows and seeking you and your family with intent to harm, and see how you react.
Dear 1:01 ignoramus, you are making things up. The real facts are: the capitol protesters were not carrying nor threatening anyone with firearms, they did not express intent to do physical harm to anyone, they tried to enter the legislative chamber(which belongs to we the people as opposed to the bureaucrats) and to express grievances to their representatives(as is the key right in a democratic society) as opposed to breaking into a private property. Learn the facts before you embarrass yourself with your gibberish.
This is a good point.
Even had they gotten in, they probably would have interrupted the proceedings, but there is no reason to think that they would have harmed anyone in the chamber.
These protected government employees are the worst of the worst. Lazy good for nothing leaches.
Sorry Folks. If he FELT threatened, which seems to be very understandable here, then I believe he had FULL RIGHT AND DUTY to fire. End of story.
If you disagree, you should probably get treated for your pro-trump derangement syndrome.
You can be happy with trumps job as president (as I am for the most part) without losing your marbles.
If any police man who FELT threatened, when it seems to be very understandable has the FULL RIGHT AND DUTY to fire, then there would be a LOT of police shootings.
I’m ANTI Trump but still think that had Babbit has a different skin color and political motive the guy never would have gotten away with it so easily.
Dear 2:08 midnight brain, I don’t know how they do things in your sunny Afghanistan, but in the civilized world it takes slightly more than “feeling” threatened to justify using deadly force. In the US you need more than “feelings”; you need a reasonable expectation of immediate threat of death or bodily injury – which was clearly absent in case of Ashley Babbitt.
I agree. If someone on the police radio was issuing false reports then that person or persons should be exposed and indicted for causing such catastrophe. The question I have is if anyone else heard these things on the police radio? Is yes, why has no one mentioned it before?
And why was there no warning shot? And didn’t this guy have a taser?
And just who “leaked’ his name (and why in seven months did I not see it anywhere in the right wing media)? Amd what form did these threats take? Was he called at home, at work, emailed? Or was it just comments left on these marginal web sites?
And my point in all of this is that it is self-evident that if it was white man shooting a black girl (engaged in trying to stop a trump certification) under these circumstances the entire leftist media would report it differently, certain politicians would have condemned it extreme terms, and there would be even more rioters in the streets across the country.
Georgeg 2:16, there is no a “warning shot” requirement in the US, as if you really are in a life threatening situation – you don’t have a luxury to waste 2 seconds on a warning shot. If you do waste these extra seconds, then your claim of imminent danger will be questioned. Hence, a warning shot will only hurt you legally and may endanger you physically. Having said that, it is clear that Ashley Babbitt did not present any imminent danger to anyone’s life and limb, and her shooting was a murder, plain and simple.