Trump supporters behaving like the bags of ass that they are

[Lexx Diamond]

They need to put this piece of shit in jail for the duration.

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Iowa man charged in Capitol riot, caught violating release terms, asks not to be sent back to jail

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Iowa man charged in Capitol riot, caught violating release terms, asks not to be sent back to jail
Trump supporters, including Doug Jensen, center, confront U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol on Jan. 6 in Washington. Some followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory have turned to online support groups and even therapy to help them move on now that it's clear Donald Trump's presidency is over.
David Pitt
Tue, August 24, 2021, 10:28 AM·2 min read


An Iowa man charged with taking part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has asked a judge not to send him back to jail even though he was caught violating the terms of his pretrial release by accessing the internet.
Douglas Jensen's lawyer, Christopher Davis, wrote in a court filing Sunday that Jensen concedes that he violated the terms of his release by accessing a video-sharing website that features misinformation about COVID-19 vaccinations and the 2020 presidential election.
"Mr. Jensen knew that this was not allowed and is prepared to accept the consequences of his actions," Davis wrote, though he told U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly that Jensen had complied with all of the other terms of his release and asked him to give Jensen another chance.
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Previously: Capitol riot suspect Doug Jensen violated terms of release to watch election conspiracies online, prosecutors say
"His violation, though a serious misplacement of this court's trust, was not an action that in any way endangers the community," he said. "Mr. Jensen asks this court to accept his apology and allow him to remain in home incarceration, with a sanction, if this court deems such is appropriate."
Jensen was released in July after spending six months in jail. At the time, Jensen told the judge he had been duped by QAnon conspiracy theories, saying he "bought into a pack of lies" and had since experienced a "wake-up call."
Capitol riot: US Capitol officer cleared in fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6
In releasing Jensen, Kelly clearly told him he could be returned to jail if he accessed the internet.
On Aug. 13, a pretrial services officer found Jensen in his garage in Des Moines listening to videos, Acting U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips wrote in a court filing seeking Jensen's return to jail.
Previously: D.C. judge orders Capitol riot defendant Doug Jensen of Des Moines released to 'home incarceration' until trial

Doug Jensen, an Iowan who was brought into custody for involvement in the storming of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, posted photos of himself in Washington D.C. on Facebook wearing a QAnon conspiracy theory shirt.
Phillips wrote that Jensen's swift violation confirms what the government and the judge suspected all along: "that Jensen's alleged disavowal of QAnon was just an act."
Jensen, 41, faces charges including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding a law enforcement officer. In video of the insurrection, Jensen could be seen wearing a T-shirt bearing the letter "Q," a symbol of the QAnon conspiracy theory, as he and other rioters followed Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman up two flights of stairs inside the building.
Davis said Jensen has a mental health evaluation scheduled for Friday and that his urge to access the internet likely will be a topic of discussion. He said Jensen did not post over social media and did not act on or encourage anyone to accept conspiracy theories.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: U.S. Capitol riot: Iowa's Doug Jensen seeks to avoid jail return

 

[Lexx Diamond]

Online Sleuths Identify Second Jan. 6 Rioter Seen Battling DC Cop Who Died By Suicide

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Ryan J. Reilly
Mon, August 23, 2021, 3:54 PM·11 min read


In this article:

• 
  

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The meeting, like many in the coronavirus era, took place over Zoom. In one panel: the widow of a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer who died by suicide just nine days after he was attacked by rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, in hopes of overturning the 2020 election and keeping Donald Trump in office. In another panel: one of the online investigators trying to bring her late husband’s assailants to justice.
It had been a whirlwind 48 hours when they joined the video chat last Sunday morning. Erin Smith, the wife of the late Officer Jeffrey Smith, had been fighting for months to have her husband’s death classified as a line-of-duty death. That designation would allow her to keep her survivor benefits like insurance, which she learned she’d lost while standing at a pharmacy counter months after Jeffrey’s death. It would also give her and her husband the dignity afforded to the family of a police officer who died protecting the public, and in this case, defending American democracy.
Hours before the call, Smith’s attorney filed an amended lawsuit against two Capitol rioters who were identified by the online sleuths who call themselves #SeditionHunters. In videos from that day, both men appear to tangle with Smith inside the Capitol. Since Jan. 6, Sedition Hunters volunteers have painstakingly compiled terabytes of data from the Capitol attack. They have helped identify and compile evidence against dozens of Capitol rioters arrested by the FBI. There are still hundreds of Jan. 6 arrests to be made, and the #SeditionHunters community will very likely play a role in many of them.

Officer Jeffrey Smith, left, was assaulted on Jan. 6 during a battle at the U.S. Capitol that is believed to have involved the man on the right. (Photo: Photo by Jack Reznicki (Courtesy of Erin Smith / Estate of Jeffrey Smith)/Facebook)
David Weber, a former federal law enforcement official and government whistleblower who is representing Smith and her husband’s estate, reached out to this reporter after reading a HuffPost story on how motivated online investigators are keeping the FBI on their toes as they work a probe with an unprecedented scope. Weber, now a forensics professor at Salisbury University, was sick of getting stonewalled by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department as he fought for recognition. Erin Smith “could have been my wife or sister,” said Weber, who was formerly the chief investigator at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Weber thought #SeditionHunters might be able to help him crack open the Smith case. Soon he was working with the Deep State Dogs, one of the volunteer open-source research organizations that popped up after the Capitol attack. The group has helped identify several violent Capitol rioters, including Daniel Rodriguez, who was arrested for electroshocking Officer Mike Fanone in the neck when he was seized by the mob on Jan. 6. Rodriguez is currently locked up until trial.

“With Michael Fanone, our search for his attacker was fueled by fury,” said Forrest Rogers of the Deep State Dogs, who was on Sunday’s Zoom call with Erin Smith. “With Jeff Smith, it feels as if we are being propelled by pain.”

The Deep State Dogs got to work quickly. Working under the tag #TeamJeff, they compiled a spec sheet identifying the minor details of Officer Smith’s uniform that might make him easier to spot: the white mask; the radio on his left side; the number on his helmet, 4626.

The spec sheet that members of
Members of the Deep State Dogs sorted through thousands of hours of amateur footage of the Capitol attack. They found Jeff Smith in a video of the hallway outside the House Speaker’s Lobby. They followed his movements, and soon they found him again, at a dicey moment when rioters were brawling with officers inside the Capitol building.

Officer Smith had reported that he was struck by a metal object outside the Capitol. But the video footage the sleuths uncovered showed a different assault, just inside the second-floor doors on the southeast House side of the Capitol building, not far from the Speaker’s Lobby. The confrontation takes place not long after Ashli Babbitt, a QAnon conspiracy theorist wearing a Trump flag as a cape, hopped through a broken window to the Speaker’s Lobby and was shot by a Capitol Police officer as lawmakers made their escape behind him.

Video shows Smith going down in the mob as another officer comes to his assistance. The sleuths zeroed in on two men who are right in front of Smith when that happens. Moments earlier, one of the men, holding a weaponized cane with a sharpened edge in one hand, had grabbed another officer’s baton. The second man ― his face, visible in body camera footage, twisted in anger ― can be seen lunging in Smith’s direction just before Smith goes down. Seconds later, the man is grabbing a police officer’s baton and fighting with them as he’s forced out of the building.

The sleuths, and Weber, believe it is possible that Officer Smith was assaulted twice. They’re still looking for additional footage to see what Smith faced outside. But the footage of him going down in the middle of a mob inside the Capitol, clearly stunned after being assaulted, led Jonathan Arden, the former chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C., to find that Smith suffered a concussion.

“The symptoms that he manifested after being injured in the riot and leading up to his suicide, including anxiety and depression, represented postconcussion syndrome,” Arden wrote in a formal declaration. “Therefore, his mood changes were the direct result of the head trauma he suffered in the riot on January 6, 2021.”

On Aug. 13, HuffPost published a story on how members of the Sedition Hunters community uncovered a moment where Officer Smith collapsed in a heap during a battle. One man, a D.C. chiropractor named David Walls-Kaufman, is a central player in the fracas. In the hours that followed, an effort got underway within the broader #SeditionHunters movement. They wanted to track down the other man who tangled with Smith — the man wearing a “Make Space Great Again” hat, and wielding a black cane with a sharp tip within striking distance of the officer.

They got to work on finding the man, referring to him as #AstroNOT. Online sleuths turned up a good deal of video of #AstroNOT at the Capitol, including footage of him using his cane as a weapon against other individuals on the steps of the building.

The crowdsource-generated evidence was a revolution for Weber. He sat in his loft off the Chesapeake Bay, listening to the seagulls outside, until 4:30 a.m., and watched as the #SeditionHunters did their thing. He eventually got a few hours of sleep. When he woke up, he got to work on the amended complaint.

“Sedition Hunters’ gears really started rolling,” said Rogers of the Deep State Dogs. “Within a matter of hours, the Deep State Dogs DMs were full.”

By the early morning of Aug. 14, the identification had been confirmed. A facial recognition search had pulled up images of a man on the website of the Franklin County Republicans in Washington state. There were multiple images of a man soon identified as Taylor Taranto of Pasco, Washington.

In two images, Taranto was posing with a cardboard cutout of former President Donald Trump.

“When I saw him grinning with the Trump cutout, that’s when I figured we probably had a good lead,” another sleuth who helped identify the man told HuffPost.

Taranto is listed as webmaster of the Franklin County Republicans, where a biography says he spent six years in the U.S. Navy and is a “computational biophysicist” who enjoys “making memes and homeschooling my children” when he’s not “helping the President take down the deep state.” A call to a phone number associated with Taranto was not returned. The chairman of the group indicated to HuffPost that he spoke with Taranto about what happened on Jan. 6.

“He said he did witness a bunch of buses coming in posing as Trump supporters who orchestrated this whole damn thing,” Clint Didier, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Executive Committee, told HuffPost in a phone interview. “They had buses full of these ‘antifa’ people posing as being Donald Trump supporters.” (Didier, a farmer, ended the call shortly after by explaining that he had to go because he was riding a tractor.)

Later, Didier, who is also a Franklin County Commissioner and former player for what is now known as the Washington Football Team, said he didn’t recall if it was Taranto or someone else who told him about the super-secret undercover antifa plot. But he did call Taranto “a veteran” and “a fine man” who “has some issues with PTSD.”

Taranto’s identification wasn’t definitive until online investigators found evidence of Taranto admitting he was in the Capitol that day. More than six months after the Capitol attack, Taranto seemed confused that he hadn’t yet been arrested for his conduct. On July 15, a Facebook account that Taranto evidently shares with his wife posted a selfie video that appeared to be filmed in the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“Soooo... we’re in the Capitol building, the legislative building, we just stormed it,” Taranto says in the video. The caption on the Facebook post reads: “I’m only sharing this so someone will report me to the feds and we can get this party rolling!”

From July 15. #AstroNOT#TeamJeff#SeditionHunterspic.twitter.com/9S2P0bqRgg
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 14, 2021

The FBI hasn’t gotten the party rolling yet, but Weber has. Taranto and Walls-Kaufman were both served last week, and Weber issued a subpoena to the Metropolitan Police Department to obtain Officer Smith’s body camera footage. He’ll also be seeking footage from the U.S. Capitol Police, who control surveillance video from inside the Capitol. (HuffPost visited the Capitol last week and found that there appear to be at least three cameras covering the area, including two positioned from above in a manner that should offer clearer evidence of the encounter.)

The first amended lawsuit alleges that Taranto “directly aided, abetted and encouraged” the attack on Jeffrey Smith. The lawsuit also names Walls-Kaufman. On Facebook, in the days after the election, Walls-Kaufman shared an open letter to Trump that called on the then-president to “save this election” by doing “everything” in his power to deliver the “honest” vote. “Throw down the gauntlet and divide this nation to save what remains, and the rest will follow,” the letter read. Walls-Kaufman, in addition to being a chiropractor on Capitol Hill, runs tai chi classes and has “won and competed in numerous international Tai Chi competitions,” according to the Capitol Hill Tai Chi website.

There’s a different standard for civil complaints and criminal complaints, and the allegations in the lawsuit stem from Weber’s independent analysis of the video based on a “preponderance of the evidence” standard, not the definitive conclusions of any online sleuths. Neither Taranto nor Walls-Kaufman has been charged with any crime, although the evidence that they were unlawfully present in the U.S. Capitol during the attack, and involved in battles with law enforcement, is overwhelming.

On Friday, Weber filed a new filing with the D.C. Police and Firefighters Retirement and Relief Board, seeking to get full benefits for Erin Smith.

“The new evidence cements the causal nexus between the events of January 6, 2021 and Officer Smith’s death,” Weber wrote. “Officer Smith was clearly [enmeshed] in the traumatic events... the video evidence together with Dr. Arden’s new report demonstrate beyond all doubt that there is a causal nexus between the events of January 6, 2021 and Officer Smith’s death on January 15, 2021.”

A total of four officers involved in the law enforcement response to Jan. 6 have since died by suicide. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood died on Jan. 9, three days after the Jan. 6 attack and five days before Officer Smith’s death. Last month, in testimony before the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn implored his fellow members of law enforcement to seek help to deal with the trauma they suffered that day.

In last Sunday’s Zoom call, Erin Smith addressed Rogers, asking him to relay her thanks to the Deep State Dogs and the broader #SeditionHunters community.

“Please let your team know that I am deeply thankful,” she told Rogers. “There’s no good words to say thank you, but from the bottom of my heart, I really do appreciate everything that everyone has done.”

Erin said she appreciated that the sleuths took the time to comb through everything and see what happened to her late husband, even as she was struggling to get any information out of D.C. police.

“I know it’s not easy, I know they’re moving quickly and it’s sometimes hard to see even their helmets or what the little white numbers are,” she said. “I’m deeply grateful for everything y’all have done, and really given myself the chance to prove... there was an actual cause to the effect that happened.”

Weber was amazed at how the power of crowdsourcing was able to answer so many questions for a family that has struggled with the stigma of suicide in a law enforcement community that doesn’t always recognize the mental health injuries that come with police work.

“We have, in real time, on social media, an electronic manhunt going on in a way that has never, ever happened before,” Weber said.

“If it wasn’t for them,” he said, “we would have been back at square one.”

If you or someone you know needs help, call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can also text HOME to 741-741 for free, 24-hour support from the Crisis Text Line. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of resources.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...

• 
  A D.C. Cop At The Jan. 6 Riot Died By Suicide. Sleuths Identified 1 Of The Rioters He Battled.
• 
  ‘Sedition Hunters’: Meet The Online Sleuths Aiding The FBI’s Capitol Manhunt
• 
  FBI Arrests 'Tunnel Commander,' An Anti-Abortion Extremist Who Attacked Cops On Jan. 6

 

[Dr. Truth]

I hate these republican enablers so much

It’s crazy how much Joe Walsh has changed shits weird as fuck

 

[stizz3000]

Florida doctor bounced from post for allegedly selling $50 notes to exempt kids from wearing masks

A Florida emergency room physician has reportedly been removed from his post after selling $50 doctor notes to parents hoping to exempt their children from wearing masks in school.

 

[blackbull1970]

Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbit While Defending House Chamber Speaks Out




Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during Capitol riot breaks silence: 'I saved countless lives'

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Lt. Michael Byrd said he opened fire only as a “last resort” after the rioters failed to comply with his commands.

By Rich Schapiro, Anna Schecter and Chelsea Damberg
Aug. 26, 2021, 6:30 PM EDT

Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt speaks after months in hiding: ‘I saved countless lives’

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Lt. Michael Byrd said he opened fire only as a “last resort” after the rioters failed to comply with his commands.

www.google.com

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.

Byrd’s connection to what was going on outside and inside the building was his police radio. For several minutes, it crackled with a cascade of alarming messages.

There were shouts of officers down. Screams from his colleagues under attack by rioters with chemical agents. A report that an officer’s fingertips were blown off.

“It was literally broadcast over the air,” Byrd said. “I said, ‘OK, this is getting serious.’”

Soon a horde of demonstrators arrived. Byrd, a 28-year veteran of the Capitol Police, took a defensive posture with his gun drawn as rioters smashed the glass doors.

He said he yelled repeatedly for them to get back. But the mob kept pressing forward, and then a lone rioter tried to climb through one of the doors.

What happened next was captured on video: Byrd fired one shot, striking Babbitt in the shoulder.

Babbitt, 35, an Air Force veteran and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, fell to the ground; she died from her injuries later.

Her death became a rallying cry for the far right, which described Babbitt as a martyr. Trump himself declared that she had been murdered and suggested, falsely, that the officer who shot her worked for a high-ranking Democrat.

For Byrd, who is Black, the incident turned his life upside down. He has been in hiding for months after he received a flood of death threats and racist attacks that started when his name leaked onto right-wing websites.

But in his interview with Holt, Byrd said he has no doubt that he made the right decision in light of the circumstances.

“I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd said. “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.”

Byrd said he had no idea whether the person he shot was carrying a weapon. It was only later that night that he found out that the rioter was a woman who was unarmed.

Asked why he pulled the trigger, Byrd said it was a “last resort.”

“I tried to wait as long as I could,” he told Holt. “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.”

Byrd has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department and the Capitol Police. In announcing its decision not to charge him, the Justice Department said in April that investigators had examined video, physical evidence from the scene, autopsy results and statements from the officer involved, as well as other officers and witnesses.

“The investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber,” federal prosecutors said in a statement.

‘The chants got louder’

The days before Jan. 6 were business as usual for Byrd, a Washington native. He and other Capitol Police officials met to review the security plan for the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

“We did not get specific intel that would require us to change or adjust our posture,” he said. “At that point, it felt like a routine event that I’ve done over the last 28 years of my career.”

Byrd said there was one complicating factor: Fewer officers were under his command, in large part because of Covid-19-related absences.

When hundreds of Trump supporters upset over the results of the election moved on the Capitol, the images of violent clashes were broadcast live on television. But Byrd, stationed outside the House chamber, wasn’t able to watch. He was dependent on his police radio.

When Byrd started hearing reports of officers down, he didn’t know the extent of their injuries. At one point, Byrd said, an even more alarming message came over the radio: a report of shots fired, which he learned much later was false.

Byrd said that after he heard the radio chatter warning that rioters had breached the building, he rushed inside the chamber and instructed the House members to hide under their chairs and to stay away from doors and windows.

He said he told them that pipe bombs had been found in the vicinity of the building and that rioters were using weapons against officers. You need to gather your gas masks, Byrd said he told them.

And he gave one more crucial instruction: He told the House members to take measures to disguise who they were in case they came face to face with the rioters.

“One of the things that was imperative was to inform the members to remove their pins to allow them to blend in,” Byrd said. “To remove their jackets, to look like staff as much as possible.”

As Byrd rushed out of the chamber, he saw the House chaplain take the position he had left on the podium. The chaplain began to recite a prayer with the members of Congress.

“I believe it was at that point in time” that “the members, as well, started to believe serious harm or injury could come to them,” Byrd said.

Byrd said he and the other officers quickly erected the makeshift barricade using every piece of furniture they could find.

“At that point is when I realized they’re here,” Byrd said, referring to the rioters. “The chants got louder. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded like hundreds of people outside of that door.”

Video shot by a person in the crowd showed two officers posted in front of the door. Heavily outnumbered, they eventually stepped aside.

Byrd said he had no knowledge that any officers were there. Because of the furniture stacked on his side of the door, he also couldn’t make out how many people were on the other side or whether they were carrying weapons.

“It was impossible for me to see what was on the other side,” he said.

But he did see the person now known to be Babbitt start coming through the broken glass.

“I could not fully see her hands or what was in the backpack or what the intentions are,” Byrd said. “But they had shown violence leading up to that point.”

It was the first time Byrd had ever shot his weapon in his 28 years on the force. Over the next few minutes, he helped the House members evacuate the building. He said it wasn’t until later that night, when he got the chance to watch TV coverage, that he understood the full scope of the Capitol riot.

The Babbitt family’s attorney has described the incident as an “ambush,” alleging that the officer gave no warning before he pulled the trigger. Babbitt’s family has signaled its intention to file a civil lawsuit against the Capitol Police; it had previously filed court papers seeking the name of the officer who shot her.

The attorney, Terry Roberts, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Byrd said he felt pain in his throat for days afterward from yelling at the protesters to stop and step back as they pounded on the glass doors.

Byrd also scoffed at the allegations by some that he had a political agenda.

“I do my job for Republican, for Democrat, for white, for Black, red, blue, green,” he said. “I don’t care about your affiliation.”

He noted that when Trump was president, he escorted him through the Capitol on numerous occasions. “If he was in the Capitol and I was responsible for him, I’d do the same thing for him and his family,” Byrd said.

In the days after Jan. 6, Byrd’s name leaked out in right-wing media and online forums. Then came the threats.

“They talked about killing me, cutting off my head,” Byrd said, adding that there were also racist attacks.

“It’s all disheartening, because I know I was doing my job.”

The hardest part, he said, has been the effect on his family. A tear slid out of Byrd’s eye and trickled down his right cheek as he lamented how the life he built has been upended.

“Sometimes, you can’t do anything but cry,” Byrd said, his voice growing heavy. “You felt like you did your job. You helped protect our legislative leaders of this country and you fought for democracy and keeping them established.”

An incident in Byrd’s past has also gained renewed attention online: In 2019, he left his service weapon in a bathroom, where another officer eventually discovered it.

In the NBC News interview, Byrd described the incident as a “terrible mistake.”

“I owned up to it. I was penalized for it. I moved on,” he said.

After having remained silent for seven months as the investigations dragged on, Byrd said he wanted to speak out to counter the misrepresentations of his actions that day, even if doing so exposes him to more threats and vitriol.

“It’s something that is frightening,” Byrd said. “Again, I believe I showed the utmost courage on January 6, and it’s time for me to do that now.”

He said that he knows there are people who disagree with his actions that day and that they may always.

“I hope they understand I did my job,” Byrd said. “There was imminent threat and danger to the members of Congress. I just want the truth to be told.”

 

[Quek9]

Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbit While Defending House Chamber Speaks Out




Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during Capitol riot breaks silence: 'I saved countless lives'

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Lt. Michael Byrd said he opened fire only as a “last resort” after the rioters failed to comply with his commands.

By Rich Schapiro, Anna Schecter and Chelsea Damberg
Aug. 26, 2021, 6:30 PM EDT

Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt speaks after months in hiding: ‘I saved countless lives’

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Lt. Michael Byrd said he opened fire only as a “last resort” after the rioters failed to comply with his commands.

www.google.com

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.

Byrd’s connection to what was going on outside and inside the building was his police radio. For several minutes, it crackled with a cascade of alarming messages.

There were shouts of officers down. Screams from his colleagues under attack by rioters with chemical agents. A report that an officer’s fingertips were blown off.

“It was literally broadcast over the air,” Byrd said. “I said, ‘OK, this is getting serious.’”

Soon a horde of demonstrators arrived. Byrd, a 28-year veteran of the Capitol Police, took a defensive posture with his gun drawn as rioters smashed the glass doors.

He said he yelled repeatedly for them to get back. But the mob kept pressing forward, and then a lone rioter tried to climb through one of the doors.

What happened next was captured on video: Byrd fired one shot, striking Babbitt in the shoulder.

Babbitt, 35, an Air Force veteran and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, fell to the ground; she died from her injuries later.

Her death became a rallying cry for the far right, which described Babbitt as a martyr. Trump himself declared that she had been murdered and suggested, falsely, that the officer who shot her worked for a high-ranking Democrat.

For Byrd, who is Black, the incident turned his life upside down. He has been in hiding for months after he received a flood of death threats and racist attacks that started when his name leaked onto right-wing websites.

But in his interview with Holt, Byrd said he has no doubt that he made the right decision in light of the circumstances.

“I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd said. “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.”

Byrd said he had no idea whether the person he shot was carrying a weapon. It was only later that night that he found out that the rioter was a woman who was unarmed.

Asked why he pulled the trigger, Byrd said it was a “last resort.”

“I tried to wait as long as I could,” he told Holt. “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.”

Byrd has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department and the Capitol Police. In announcing its decision not to charge him, the Justice Department said in April that investigators had examined video, physical evidence from the scene, autopsy results and statements from the officer involved, as well as other officers and witnesses.

“The investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber,” federal prosecutors said in a statement.

‘The chants got louder’

The days before Jan. 6 were business as usual for Byrd, a Washington native. He and other Capitol Police officials met to review the security plan for the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

“We did not get specific intel that would require us to change or adjust our posture,” he said. “At that point, it felt like a routine event that I’ve done over the last 28 years of my career.”

Byrd said there was one complicating factor: Fewer officers were under his command, in large part because of Covid-19-related absences.

When hundreds of Trump supporters upset over the results of the election moved on the Capitol, the images of violent clashes were broadcast live on television. But Byrd, stationed outside the House chamber, wasn’t able to watch. He was dependent on his police radio.

When Byrd started hearing reports of officers down, he didn’t know the extent of their injuries. At one point, Byrd said, an even more alarming message came over the radio: a report of shots fired, which he learned much later was false.

Byrd said that after he heard the radio chatter warning that rioters had breached the building, he rushed inside the chamber and instructed the House members to hide under their chairs and to stay away from doors and windows.

He said he told them that pipe bombs had been found in the vicinity of the building and that rioters were using weapons against officers. You need to gather your gas masks, Byrd said he told them.

And he gave one more crucial instruction: He told the House members to take measures to disguise who they were in case they came face to face with the rioters.

“One of the things that was imperative was to inform the members to remove their pins to allow them to blend in,” Byrd said. “To remove their jackets, to look like staff as much as possible.”

As Byrd rushed out of the chamber, he saw the House chaplain take the position he had left on the podium. The chaplain began to recite a prayer with the members of Congress.

“I believe it was at that point in time” that “the members, as well, started to believe serious harm or injury could come to them,” Byrd said.

Byrd said he and the other officers quickly erected the makeshift barricade using every piece of furniture they could find.

“At that point is when I realized they’re here,” Byrd said, referring to the rioters. “The chants got louder. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded like hundreds of people outside of that door.”

Video shot by a person in the crowd showed two officers posted in front of the door. Heavily outnumbered, they eventually stepped aside.

Byrd said he had no knowledge that any officers were there. Because of the furniture stacked on his side of the door, he also couldn’t make out how many people were on the other side or whether they were carrying weapons.

“It was impossible for me to see what was on the other side,” he said.

But he did see the person now known to be Babbitt start coming through the broken glass.

“I could not fully see her hands or what was in the backpack or what the intentions are,” Byrd said. “But they had shown violence leading up to that point.”

It was the first time Byrd had ever shot his weapon in his 28 years on the force. Over the next few minutes, he helped the House members evacuate the building. He said it wasn’t until later that night, when he got the chance to watch TV coverage, that he understood the full scope of the Capitol riot.

The Babbitt family’s attorney has described the incident as an “ambush,” alleging that the officer gave no warning before he pulled the trigger. Babbitt’s family has signaled its intention to file a civil lawsuit against the Capitol Police; it had previously filed court papers seeking the name of the officer who shot her.

The attorney, Terry Roberts, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Byrd said he felt pain in his throat for days afterward from yelling at the protesters to stop and step back as they pounded on the glass doors.

Byrd also scoffed at the allegations by some that he had a political agenda.

“I do my job for Republican, for Democrat, for white, for Black, red, blue, green,” he said. “I don’t care about your affiliation.”

He noted that when Trump was president, he escorted him through the Capitol on numerous occasions. “If he was in the Capitol and I was responsible for him, I’d do the same thing for him and his family,” Byrd said.

In the days after Jan. 6, Byrd’s name leaked out in right-wing media and online forums. Then came the threats.

“They talked about killing me, cutting off my head,” Byrd said, adding that there were also racist attacks.

“It’s all disheartening, because I know I was doing my job.”

The hardest part, he said, has been the effect on his family. A tear slid out of Byrd’s eye and trickled down his right cheek as he lamented how the life he built has been upended.

“Sometimes, you can’t do anything but cry,” Byrd said, his voice growing heavy. “You felt like you did your job. You helped protect our legislative leaders of this country and you fought for democracy and keeping them established.”

An incident in Byrd’s past has also gained renewed attention online: In 2019, he left his service weapon in a bathroom, where another officer eventually discovered it.

In the NBC News interview, Byrd described the incident as a “terrible mistake.”

“I owned up to it. I was penalized for it. I moved on,” he said.

After having remained silent for seven months as the investigations dragged on, Byrd said he wanted to speak out to counter the misrepresentations of his actions that day, even if doing so exposes him to more threats and vitriol.

“It’s something that is frightening,” Byrd said. “Again, I believe I showed the utmost courage on January 6, and it’s time for me to do that now.”

He said that he knows there are people who disagree with his actions that day and that they may always.

“I hope they understand I did my job,” Byrd said. “There was imminent threat and danger to the members of Congress. I just want the truth to be told.”

Hero and certified cracker killa.

 

[gman4gov]

Hero and certified cracker killa.

He needs a parade and presidential medal of freedom!

 

[playahaitian]

​

 

[Lexx Diamond]

​

 

[darth frosty]

 

[Politic Negro]

Why they didn't already secure this is beyond me.

 

[mrcmd187]

 

[tajshan]

 

[blackbull1970]

Capitol riot lawyer John Pierce goes missing with Covid excuse and 17 pending cases, prosecutors say

Dan Manganese
August 31, 2021

Capitol riot lawyer John Pierce goes missing with Covid excuse and 17 pending cases, prosecutors say

Prosecutors warned a judge that Pierce associate Ryan Marshall — who has been appearing in Pierce's absence over the past week — "is not a licensed attorney."

www.google.com

Lawyer John Pierce — who is representing 17 criminal defendants in Capitol riot cases — has gone missing from court appearances amid conflicting excuses that include a claim he is hospitalized with Covid and is on a ventilator, a court filing says.

Federal prosecutors warned a judge in the filing that Pierce associate Ryan Marshall — who has been appearing in Pierce's absence over the past week — "is not a licensed attorney." Marshall also faces pending two separate felony criminal cases against him personally in Pennsylvania, the prosecutors said.

As a result, "Mr. Marshall cannot ethically or legally represent Mr. Pierce's clients," prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia told the judge in Monday's filing, which was made in the case of riot defendant James Burton McGrew.

"The United States thus finds itself in a position where this defendant and 16 other defendants charged in connection with the Capitol Riot appear to be effectively without counsel," prosecutors wrote Chief Judge Beryl Howell of Washington federal court.

All of Pierce's riot defendants are being prosecuted in that court, as are hundreds of others accused of invading the Capitol complex on Jan. 6 after then-President Donald Trump urged supporters to fight against the confirmation of Joe Biden's election as president by a joint session of Congress.

Pierce's clients include members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups.

Monday's filing appears to give the benefit of the doubt to an initial claim by Marshall that Pierce, who is a Trump supporter himself, is, "Sadly ... ill with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and unresponsive."


"Unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Pierce may be hospitalized and unable to communicate, and it is unclear when Mr. Pierce will recover," prosecutors wrote.

"The government is making the Court aware of Mr. Pierce's reported illness so that it can take any steps it believes necessary to ensure the defendant's rights are adequately protected while Mr. Pierce remains hospitalized," the filing said.

Prosecutors also mention other reports that contradict that claim and give other explanations for the mysterious absence of Pierce, a name partner in the Los Angeles law firm Pierce Bainbridge.

"I have nothing to say," Marshall told CNBC on Tuesday.

When CNBC called the main office phone number of Pierce's firm on Tuesday, a recording said, "The number you called is not in service."

Pierce did not answer a phone number given for him on the court's docket. A message on that phone number said its voice mail had not been set up. Pierce did not immediately respond to an email query.

CNBC has left a message seeking comment with his firm on its online contact form.

Pierce previously represented Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old Illinois man charged with reckless homicide and other charges for fatally shooting two people and wounding a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August during a civil disturbance sparked by the non-fatal police shooting of Black man named Jacob Blake.

Rittenhouse fired Pierce in February.

An article in The New Yorker in June detailed the events leading up to Pierce's termination, which included how the lawyer handled donations earmarked for Rittenhouse.

"Kyle was John's ticket out of debt," Rittenhouse's mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, told The New Yorker.

In their filing Monday, federal prosecutors wrote that they have "had no contact with Mr. Pierce — by phone, e-mail, or otherwise — since Monday, August 23, 2021," when he appeared in D.C. court for a hearing in the case of Capitol riot defendant Jeremiah Caplinger.

"Since that time, the U.S. Attorney's Office has heard conflicting information about Mr. Pierce's health and whereabouts," the filing.

On Aug. 24, Marshall appeared in court Pierce's place for another riot defendant, "and represented to the court that Mr. Pierce's absence was due to a conflict," the filing said.

"A few hours later, Mr. Marshall attended a reverse-proffer session with a different defendant represented by Mr. Pierce, telling the Assistant U.S. Attorney that he had just gotten word that Mr. Pierce had been in an accident and was on his way to the hospital," the filing said.

"Mr. Marshall then proceeded with the reverse-proffer session in Mr. Pierce's absence."

The next morning, Marshall appeared in Pierce's place for yet another riot defendant, "and represented to the court that Mr. Pierce was hospitalized with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and non-responsive," the filing said.

"After that information was reported publicly, a different individual reached out to an NPR correspondent and wrote that Mr. Pierce did not, in fact, have COVID, but instead 'was hospitalized on Monday due to symptoms that he believed might be related to Covid-19'; 'appears to have been suffering from dehydration and exhaustion'; and 'remains under the care of his doctors,' " the filing said.

Last Thursday, during a hearing for another defendant, Marshall told a judge that he had not had direct contact with Pierce, "but that one of Mr. Pierce's friends had told him that Mr. Pierce was sick with COVID-19 and another had said he was not," prosecutors wrote.

The filing noted that during the hearing, "Marshall requested, and was granted, a sealed bench conference at which to discuss Mr. Pierce's condition."

Prosecutors noted that Pierce routinely posted "multiple messages to Twitter on a daily basis" but has not done so since Aug. 20.

"And there are reports that "multiple phone numbers for Pierce's law firm, Pierce Bainbridge P.C., have been disconnected," the filing said.

Prosecutors said that Marshall seems to have taken actions for Capitol riot defendants "that he is not permitted to do," as he is not being currently licensed to practice law, "and thus cannot appear in this Court, represent Mr. Pierce's clients, or provide them with legal advice or services."

The filing noted that Marshall is criminally charged in Pennsylvania state court with multiple counts of intercepting communications and unlawful use of an audio device in court, and in another case there where he is accused of a scheme to defraud the widow of a man while serving as a courthouse law clerk.

"From the government's perspective, given Mr. Pierce's reported illness and the fact that Mr. Marshall is not a licensed attorney, this case is effectively at a standstill," the filing said.

Prosecutors wrote that while '"Marshall has been the government's main or sole point of contact for many of the defendants represented by Mr. Pierce, the government does not believe it appropriate to continue to communicate with him in Mr. Pierce's absence, during which he would necessarily be acting without supervision by a licensed attorney."

 

[blackpepper]

Capitol riot lawyer John Pierce goes missing with Covid excuse and 17 pending cases, prosecutors say

Dan Manganese
August 31, 2021

Capitol riot lawyer John Pierce goes missing with Covid excuse and 17 pending cases, prosecutors say

Prosecutors warned a judge that Pierce associate Ryan Marshall — who has been appearing in Pierce's absence over the past week — "is not a licensed attorney."

www.google.com

Lawyer John Pierce — who is representing 17 criminal defendants in Capitol riot cases — has gone missing from court appearances amid conflicting excuses that include a claim he is hospitalized with Covid and is on a ventilator, a court filing says.

Federal prosecutors warned a judge in the filing that Pierce associate Ryan Marshall — who has been appearing in Pierce's absence over the past week — "is not a licensed attorney." Marshall also faces pending two separate felony criminal cases against him personally in Pennsylvania, the prosecutors said.

As a result, "Mr. Marshall cannot ethically or legally represent Mr. Pierce's clients," prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia told the judge in Monday's filing, which was made in the case of riot defendant James Burton McGrew.

"The United States thus finds itself in a position where this defendant and 16 other defendants charged in connection with the Capitol Riot appear to be effectively without counsel," prosecutors wrote Chief Judge Beryl Howell of Washington federal court.

All of Pierce's riot defendants are being prosecuted in that court, as are hundreds of others accused of invading the Capitol complex on Jan. 6 after then-President Donald Trump urged supporters to fight against the confirmation of Joe Biden's election as president by a joint session of Congress.

Pierce's clients include members of the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups.

Monday's filing appears to give the benefit of the doubt to an initial claim by Marshall that Pierce, who is a Trump supporter himself, is, "Sadly ... ill with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and unresponsive."


"Unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Pierce may be hospitalized and unable to communicate, and it is unclear when Mr. Pierce will recover," prosecutors wrote.

"The government is making the Court aware of Mr. Pierce's reported illness so that it can take any steps it believes necessary to ensure the defendant's rights are adequately protected while Mr. Pierce remains hospitalized," the filing said.

Prosecutors also mention other reports that contradict that claim and give other explanations for the mysterious absence of Pierce, a name partner in the Los Angeles law firm Pierce Bainbridge.

"I have nothing to say," Marshall told CNBC on Tuesday.

When CNBC called the main office phone number of Pierce's firm on Tuesday, a recording said, "The number you called is not in service."

Pierce did not answer a phone number given for him on the court's docket. A message on that phone number said its voice mail had not been set up. Pierce did not immediately respond to an email query.

CNBC has left a message seeking comment with his firm on its online contact form.

Pierce previously represented Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old Illinois man charged with reckless homicide and other charges for fatally shooting two people and wounding a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August during a civil disturbance sparked by the non-fatal police shooting of Black man named Jacob Blake.

Rittenhouse fired Pierce in February.

An article in The New Yorker in June detailed the events leading up to Pierce's termination, which included how the lawyer handled donations earmarked for Rittenhouse.

"Kyle was John's ticket out of debt," Rittenhouse's mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, told The New Yorker.

In their filing Monday, federal prosecutors wrote that they have "had no contact with Mr. Pierce — by phone, e-mail, or otherwise — since Monday, August 23, 2021," when he appeared in D.C. court for a hearing in the case of Capitol riot defendant Jeremiah Caplinger.

"Since that time, the U.S. Attorney's Office has heard conflicting information about Mr. Pierce's health and whereabouts," the filing.

On Aug. 24, Marshall appeared in court Pierce's place for another riot defendant, "and represented to the court that Mr. Pierce's absence was due to a conflict," the filing said.

"A few hours later, Mr. Marshall attended a reverse-proffer session with a different defendant represented by Mr. Pierce, telling the Assistant U.S. Attorney that he had just gotten word that Mr. Pierce had been in an accident and was on his way to the hospital," the filing said.

"Mr. Marshall then proceeded with the reverse-proffer session in Mr. Pierce's absence."

The next morning, Marshall appeared in Pierce's place for yet another riot defendant, "and represented to the court that Mr. Pierce was hospitalized with COVID-19, on a ventilator, and non-responsive," the filing said.

"After that information was reported publicly, a different individual reached out to an NPR correspondent and wrote that Mr. Pierce did not, in fact, have COVID, but instead 'was hospitalized on Monday due to symptoms that he believed might be related to Covid-19'; 'appears to have been suffering from dehydration and exhaustion'; and 'remains under the care of his doctors,' " the filing said.

Last Thursday, during a hearing for another defendant, Marshall told a judge that he had not had direct contact with Pierce, "but that one of Mr. Pierce's friends had told him that Mr. Pierce was sick with COVID-19 and another had said he was not," prosecutors wrote.

The filing noted that during the hearing, "Marshall requested, and was granted, a sealed bench conference at which to discuss Mr. Pierce's condition."

Prosecutors noted that Pierce routinely posted "multiple messages to Twitter on a daily basis" but has not done so since Aug. 20.

"And there are reports that "multiple phone numbers for Pierce's law firm, Pierce Bainbridge P.C., have been disconnected," the filing said.

Prosecutors said that Marshall seems to have taken actions for Capitol riot defendants "that he is not permitted to do," as he is not being currently licensed to practice law, "and thus cannot appear in this Court, represent Mr. Pierce's clients, or provide them with legal advice or services."

The filing noted that Marshall is criminally charged in Pennsylvania state court with multiple counts of intercepting communications and unlawful use of an audio device in court, and in another case there where he is accused of a scheme to defraud the widow of a man while serving as a courthouse law clerk.

"From the government's perspective, given Mr. Pierce's reported illness and the fact that Mr. Marshall is not a licensed attorney, this case is effectively at a standstill," the filing said.

Prosecutors wrote that while '"Marshall has been the government's main or sole point of contact for many of the defendants represented by Mr. Pierce, the government does not believe it appropriate to continue to communicate with him in Mr. Pierce's absence, during which he would necessarily be acting without supervision by a licensed attorney."

Just another greedy grifter, hustling tRumps supporters like he did.

 

[darth frosty]

 

[Politic Negro]

Just another greedy grifter, hustling tRumps supporters like he did.

Well, hopefully his clients are still locked up.

 

[mrcmd187]

Signing off on this back in the day is about to come back and haunt the GOP

 

[darth frosty]

 

[D@mnphins]

SNL already back or is this Conan. This can't be real. Why are they always no-necked.

 

[Gemini]

 

[LongLocs85]

Let's goooo

 

[dugington]

And that was the plea bargain, right?
I hope the rest of them get on their 'stand up for what I believe in' brand of arrogance, blow trial and get some double digit numbers.

 

[Quek9]

You will learn today...

 

[LongLocs85]

And that was the plea bargain, right?
I hope the rest of them get on their 'stand up for what I believe in' brand of arrogance, blow trial and get some double digit numbers.

He tried to renig on his dumbass Q-Anon belief... Judge still banged his stupid ass over the head with 4yrs... I shouldn't care, but I'm hooked on the stories of the demise of the insurrectionist...

 

[mrcmd187]

The look of all the Jan 6th Terrorist when they saw this

and he made a plea deal which means he snitched on somebody

 

[LongLocs85]

The look of all the Jan 6th Terrorist when they saw this

and he made a plea deal which means he snitched on somebody

 

[Princenubian]

Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbit While Defending House Chamber Speaks Out




Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during Capitol riot breaks silence: 'I saved countless lives'

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Lt. Michael Byrd said he opened fire only as a “last resort” after the rioters failed to comply with his commands.

By Rich Schapiro, Anna Schecter and Chelsea Damberg
Aug. 26, 2021, 6:30 PM EDT

Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt speaks after months in hiding: ‘I saved countless lives’

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Lt. Michael Byrd said he opened fire only as a “last resort” after the rioters failed to comply with his commands.

www.google.com

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.

Byrd’s connection to what was going on outside and inside the building was his police radio. For several minutes, it crackled with a cascade of alarming messages.

There were shouts of officers down. Screams from his colleagues under attack by rioters with chemical agents. A report that an officer’s fingertips were blown off.

“It was literally broadcast over the air,” Byrd said. “I said, ‘OK, this is getting serious.’”

Soon a horde of demonstrators arrived. Byrd, a 28-year veteran of the Capitol Police, took a defensive posture with his gun drawn as rioters smashed the glass doors.

He said he yelled repeatedly for them to get back. But the mob kept pressing forward, and then a lone rioter tried to climb through one of the doors.

What happened next was captured on video: Byrd fired one shot, striking Babbitt in the shoulder.

Babbitt, 35, an Air Force veteran and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, fell to the ground; she died from her injuries later.

Her death became a rallying cry for the far right, which described Babbitt as a martyr. Trump himself declared that she had been murdered and suggested, falsely, that the officer who shot her worked for a high-ranking Democrat.

For Byrd, who is Black, the incident turned his life upside down. He has been in hiding for months after he received a flood of death threats and racist attacks that started when his name leaked onto right-wing websites.

But in his interview with Holt, Byrd said he has no doubt that he made the right decision in light of the circumstances.

“I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd said. “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.”

Byrd said he had no idea whether the person he shot was carrying a weapon. It was only later that night that he found out that the rioter was a woman who was unarmed.

Asked why he pulled the trigger, Byrd said it was a “last resort.”

“I tried to wait as long as I could,” he told Holt. “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.”

Byrd has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Justice Department and the Capitol Police. In announcing its decision not to charge him, the Justice Department said in April that investigators had examined video, physical evidence from the scene, autopsy results and statements from the officer involved, as well as other officers and witnesses.

“The investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber,” federal prosecutors said in a statement.

‘The chants got louder’

The days before Jan. 6 were business as usual for Byrd, a Washington native. He and other Capitol Police officials met to review the security plan for the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

“We did not get specific intel that would require us to change or adjust our posture,” he said. “At that point, it felt like a routine event that I’ve done over the last 28 years of my career.”

Byrd said there was one complicating factor: Fewer officers were under his command, in large part because of Covid-19-related absences.

When hundreds of Trump supporters upset over the results of the election moved on the Capitol, the images of violent clashes were broadcast live on television. But Byrd, stationed outside the House chamber, wasn’t able to watch. He was dependent on his police radio.

When Byrd started hearing reports of officers down, he didn’t know the extent of their injuries. At one point, Byrd said, an even more alarming message came over the radio: a report of shots fired, which he learned much later was false.

Byrd said that after he heard the radio chatter warning that rioters had breached the building, he rushed inside the chamber and instructed the House members to hide under their chairs and to stay away from doors and windows.

He said he told them that pipe bombs had been found in the vicinity of the building and that rioters were using weapons against officers. You need to gather your gas masks, Byrd said he told them.

And he gave one more crucial instruction: He told the House members to take measures to disguise who they were in case they came face to face with the rioters.

“One of the things that was imperative was to inform the members to remove their pins to allow them to blend in,” Byrd said. “To remove their jackets, to look like staff as much as possible.”

As Byrd rushed out of the chamber, he saw the House chaplain take the position he had left on the podium. The chaplain began to recite a prayer with the members of Congress.

“I believe it was at that point in time” that “the members, as well, started to believe serious harm or injury could come to them,” Byrd said.

Byrd said he and the other officers quickly erected the makeshift barricade using every piece of furniture they could find.

“At that point is when I realized they’re here,” Byrd said, referring to the rioters. “The chants got louder. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded like hundreds of people outside of that door.”

Video shot by a person in the crowd showed two officers posted in front of the door. Heavily outnumbered, they eventually stepped aside.

Byrd said he had no knowledge that any officers were there. Because of the furniture stacked on his side of the door, he also couldn’t make out how many people were on the other side or whether they were carrying weapons.

“It was impossible for me to see what was on the other side,” he said.

But he did see the person now known to be Babbitt start coming through the broken glass.

“I could not fully see her hands or what was in the backpack or what the intentions are,” Byrd said. “But they had shown violence leading up to that point.”

It was the first time Byrd had ever shot his weapon in his 28 years on the force. Over the next few minutes, he helped the House members evacuate the building. He said it wasn’t until later that night, when he got the chance to watch TV coverage, that he understood the full scope of the Capitol riot.

The Babbitt family’s attorney has described the incident as an “ambush,” alleging that the officer gave no warning before he pulled the trigger. Babbitt’s family has signaled its intention to file a civil lawsuit against the Capitol Police; it had previously filed court papers seeking the name of the officer who shot her.

The attorney, Terry Roberts, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Byrd said he felt pain in his throat for days afterward from yelling at the protesters to stop and step back as they pounded on the glass doors.

Byrd also scoffed at the allegations by some that he had a political agenda.

“I do my job for Republican, for Democrat, for white, for Black, red, blue, green,” he said. “I don’t care about your affiliation.”

He noted that when Trump was president, he escorted him through the Capitol on numerous occasions. “If he was in the Capitol and I was responsible for him, I’d do the same thing for him and his family,” Byrd said.

In the days after Jan. 6, Byrd’s name leaked out in right-wing media and online forums. Then came the threats.

“They talked about killing me, cutting off my head,” Byrd said, adding that there were also racist attacks.

“It’s all disheartening, because I know I was doing my job.”

The hardest part, he said, has been the effect on his family. A tear slid out of Byrd’s eye and trickled down his right cheek as he lamented how the life he built has been upended.

“Sometimes, you can’t do anything but cry,” Byrd said, his voice growing heavy. “You felt like you did your job. You helped protect our legislative leaders of this country and you fought for democracy and keeping them established.”

An incident in Byrd’s past has also gained renewed attention online: In 2019, he left his service weapon in a bathroom, where another officer eventually discovered it.

In the NBC News interview, Byrd described the incident as a “terrible mistake.”

“I owned up to it. I was penalized for it. I moved on,” he said.

After having remained silent for seven months as the investigations dragged on, Byrd said he wanted to speak out to counter the misrepresentations of his actions that day, even if doing so exposes him to more threats and vitriol.

“It’s something that is frightening,” Byrd said. “Again, I believe I showed the utmost courage on January 6, and it’s time for me to do that now.”

He said that he knows there are people who disagree with his actions that day and that they may always.

“I hope they understand I did my job,” Byrd said. “There was imminent threat and danger to the members of Congress. I just want the truth to be told.”

Hero and certified cracker killa.

​

I’m guessing there ain’t too many bruthas walking the streets that have killed a white woman before.

White folks have there White Power hand signals and there Ace of Spades tattoos.

We need our own secret way of acknowledging our self made heroes.

What about like Certified Cracka Crusher(C3)

can we make this a tattoo.

Carry on……

 

[blackbull1970]

Judge orders Capitol riot defendant back to jail after he watched the MyPillow guy's election conspiracies

Judge orders Capitol riot defendant back to jail after he watched the MyPillow guy's election conspiracies

Judge orders Capitol riot defendant back to jail after he watched the MyPillow guy's election conspiracies

www.google.com

A Capitol Riot defendant is returning to jail less than two months after he got out thanks to his viewing of conspiracy theories, including from the MyPillow guy.
A judge on Thursday ordered Capitol riot suspect Doug Jensen to return to jail because he violated the conditions of his release by using the internet to watch conspiracy theory content, CNN reports.

Click Above Link For Full Story

 

[Politic Negro]

New arrests

 

[blackbull1970]

I pointed out earlier that the DOJ is working from the bottom up.

They have video and picture evidence of everybody on site that day from cell phones and cameras thru-out the area along with satellite and drone footage.

They know who everybody is and where they are at at this time. It was posted earlier with that fool in Denver who tried leaving the country and they were waiting for his ass at the airport for his connecting flight. These fools can’t leave the country cuz they are all being tracked and followed. The FBI is just taking their time bringing them in so that they don’t overwhelm the courts.

And that pipe bomber. The FBI already knows who he is. Anybody that has been in Washington DC knows you can’t move from one end of that city to the other without being caught on camera. The FBI is wanting more information on who worked with that fool and is putting the pieces together with the plea bargaining information that these idiots are giving up.

It probably won’t be until next year or later before we start seeing the higher ups doing the perp walk in cuffs with their coat over their head trying to protect their identities.

You gotta have patience with shit like this.

 

[blackpepper]

I pointed out earlier that the DOJ is working from the bottom up.

They have video and picture evidence of everybody on site that day from cell phones and cameras thru-out the area along with satellite and drone footage.

They know who everybody is and where they are at at this time. It was posted earlier with that fool in Denver who tried leaving the country and they were waiting for his ass at the airport for his connecting flight. These fools can’t leave the country cuz they are all being tracked and followed. The FBI is just taking their time bringing them in so that they don’t overwhelm the courts.

And that pipe bomber. The FBI already knows who he is. Anybody that has been in Washington DC knows you can’t move from one end of that city to the other without being caught on camera. The FBI is wanting more information on who worked with that fool and is putting the pieces together with the plea bargaining information that these idiots are giving up.

It probably won’t be until next year or later before we start seeing the higher ups doing the perp walk in cuffs with their coat over their head trying to protect their identities.

You gotta have patience with shit like this.

I can't disagree with you and perhaps its for a different thread but the DOJ's plea deals suck ass. Trespassing .... really. Those folks weren't trespassing. As an individual they may have been trespassing, however as a collective they posed one of the most dangerous threats this country has seen in many many years. They all joined a massive mob with the intent of overturning the election. If they'd succeeded would they have been trespassers, no. Intent matters.

 

[darth frosty]

I pointed out earlier that the DOJ is working from the bottom up.

They have video and picture evidence of everybody on site that day from cell phones and cameras thru-out the area along with satellite and drone footage.

They know who everybody is and where they are at at this time. It was posted earlier with that fool in Denver who tried leaving the country and they were waiting for his ass at the airport for his connecting flight. These fools can’t leave the country cuz they are all being tracked and followed. The FBI is just taking their time bringing them in so that they don’t overwhelm the courts.

And that pipe bomber. The FBI already knows who he is. Anybody that has been in Washington DC knows you can’t move from one end of that city to the other without being caught on camera. The FBI is wanting more information on who worked with that fool and is putting the pieces together with the plea bargaining information that these idiots are giving up.

It probably won’t be until next year or later before we start seeing the higher ups doing the perp walk in cuffs with their coat over their head trying to protect their identities.

You gotta have patience with shit like this.

Would you say the dems are trying to maneuver this so that the bulk of evidence and accusations happens in the runup to midterm elections?

 

[blackbull1970]

I can't disagree with you and perhaps its for a different thread but the DOJ's plea deals suck ass. Trespassing .... really. Those folks weren't trespassing. As an individual they may have been trespassing, however as a collective they posed one of the most dangerous threats this country has seen in many many years. They all joined a massive mob with the intent of overturning the election. If they'd succeeded would they have been trespassers, no. Intent matters.

There has been proof that a majority of the people who were there mainly showed up for Shits and Giggles so they could say they were there. Majority of them had no intentions of overthrowing the Government.

A lot of folks who showed up at the White House event thought the rally would just be at the WH. They were caught off guard when the mob migrated toward the Capitol.

When they arrived at the Capitol and saw all hell broke loose, the smart ones got the fuck out of there with the quickness and went straight back home.

A large majority of the ones who crossed the lines just saw a opportunity to act stupid and made a impulsive judgement to follow the crowd.

Similar to a person during a riot seeing folks running in and out of a electronics store stealing stuff and they look around and make a dumb decision “Everybody else is doing it, I guess I might as well too”.

There is definitive proof there was a small segment who actually was there to kill VP Pence, SoH Pelosi and key members of Congress. They were using the large mob to cover their actions.

And there is also definitive proof there was dark money organizers who chartered buses to get people to DC. Hotel and food was also paid for. And there is proof that Crypto money came in from outside the US to fund the Capitol Riot.

If you noticed, those folks have not been rounded up yet. Only the idiots are being rounded up, indicted and sentenced with slaps on the wrist for now.

Like I said, they starting from the bottom and working up.

 

[blackbull1970]

Would you say the dems are trying to maneuver this so that the bulk of evidence and accusations happens in the runup to midterm elections?

I think this might stretch out past the Midterms if the Dems manage to keep the House which I think they will be able to.