WHO SHOT ASHLI BABBITT--AND WHY?

 

   

                                           By Bill Juneau  

                                                  The Biden Department of Justice and the ineffective and lackadaisical FBI have done their best to keep the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt by a Capitol policeman out of the headlines. That has become the Democrats' game plan now that they are in control: disdain or ignore Republican complaints. With the help of the acquiescent media, it has not been all that hard. 

                                                  The shooting simply needed to be hushed up like a nasty rumor. It contradicted the liberal declaration  that when a policeman shoots someone, it is because the officer is a white supremacist and his victim is an innocent Black.

                                           So in order to make sure that the Babbitt shooting did not undo a summer of Black Lives Matter protests, the identity of the quick-draw policeman was withheld. The excuse given was that he needed to be protected from undeserved scorn and ridicule for "just doing his job as he was trained to do." 

                                                     Leading Democrats and the tethered and malleable main street media reporters were fully on board with the riddance and burial of the Ashli Babbitt shooting  on Jan. 6 when protesters pushed their way into the Capitol building complaining of the invalidity of the Joe Biden election as the nation's 46th President.  The way the popular story goes, if anyone was to blame, it was the protester, Ms. Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran who was inspired by the evil Republican President, Donald Trump. 

                                                     All the public needed to know, decreed the Justice department and police officials and Democratic members of  Congress, was that Ms. Babbitt was fatally shot by a policeman who was protecting members of Congress---and doing his job. After ordering the protester to back off, and fearing for his safety and the safety of government officials,  the Capitol officer fired a single shot from his Glock-22, taking down the unarmed woman who died shortly thereafter.  

                                                      Last April, The Justice Department said that the unnamed officer wouldn't be criminally charged in connection with Babbitt's death, and the US Capitol Police said later that he wouldn't face any internal discipline. Their rather sketchy conclusion was based upon what they called a full investigation of the incident and review of records and interviews with witnesses. 

                                                     This has been the Washington posture for the last 8 months since the shooting and riots,  but complaints and questions persisted from citizens and organizations dissatisfied with the story of an anonymous shooter. Finally, after the persistent opposition's  demands reached a crescendo, the D.C. shooter stepped forth and identified himself as Lt. Michael Byrd. On Aug. 27, he was interviewed on NBC by  Lester Holt, a veteran newsman who might be considered a loyal friend to the party in control  these days. 

                                                    Viewers finally learned that Lt. Byrd was an African American and Ashli Babbitt was a white woman, and that the face-off contradicted the Democrats' oft-used narrative of how innocent blacks are always the victims of white cops. 

                                                       In the interview, Byrd, 53,  a Capitol policeman for 28 years, said that the woman he shot was attempting to enter a barricaded room through a broken glass partition. Byrd said he did not regret his actions, though he called firing his weapon a “last resort.”

                                                        “I followed my training, and I spent countless years preparing for such a moment,” he said, noting that to him in that moment Babbitt “was posing a threat” to lawmakers in the House Chamber.

                                                      Terry Roberts, an attorney for the Babbitt family, said that the long interval before the shooter was identified was pure politics.   In an interview, he condemned the US Capitol Police for never publicly naming Byrd, which he said was because Lt. Byrd is black and Ms. Babbitt was white--and unarmed.   

                                                        Byrd had a record of being careless with handling guns and should not have been allowed to carry a pistol, said Roberts.  In February of 2019, Byrd had left his loaded weapon on a counter in a visitor center washroom in the capitol.  The Glock-22 had  no manual safety to prevent unintended firing.  The gun had been found by another policeman, and Lt. Byrd apologized for his absentminded conduct,  but reportedly was never disciplined for the infraction since no one was hurt.   

                                                      Roberts said that Byrd was not justified in killing Babbitt,  because he had no reason to believe the unarmed woman  posed a threat to himself or others. Byrd fired the only shot at the Capitol on January 6, and Babbitt was the only person there killed by gunfire that day.

                                                     "You know, we don’t shoot protesters in this country unless they’re an immediate threat to somebody,” Roberts said

                                                 The lawyer has said that he intends to file a multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuit against Byrd and the Capitol police.  A lawsuit, with depositions and discovery, could well open up the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to shield the full story of the Babbitt shooting.  

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