Prosecute Michael Byrd for Killing Ashli Babbitt
The hypocritical proliferation of two-tiered justice, one tier for tens of thousands of Demo rioters and another for the J6 protesters.
“The dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people, and every blessing of society depend so much upon an upright and skillful administration of justice…” —John Adams
“Well, you know, the only one that was killed was a beautiful young lady named Ashli Babbitt … shot for no reason whatsoever.” —Donald Trump this week
Over the last 30 days, when most of the Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes were bloviating about the possibility that Donald Trump would issue pardons to January 6 protesters, Joe Biden issued a pardon for Hunter Biden, despite repeatedly promising he would never do that because “No one is above the law.”
That was just another entry to the endless list of lies over the course of his last 50 years on the taxpayer dole.
Then, Biden commuted the sentences of 1,499 people and pardoned another 39 convicts to bury the news cycle about the corrupt pardon favor for his son. That was followed just before Christmas, with his commuting the sentences of 37 of 40 federal death row inmates, some being the most evil people in federal custody. Biden then began the New Year commuting another 2,500 sentences.
Over the last four years, Biden has now issued pardons and clemencies to more than 10,500 criminals, and as he proudly declared, “more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history.” (For context, Donald Trump issued a total of 237 pardons and clemencies in his first term.)
The big pardon and clemency giveaway was much like his last-minute presidential medals extravaganza, when he awarded numerous “trophies” mostly to his disreputable political benefactors.
So, what will Trump do with the convictions of nonviolent January 6, 2021, protesters?
More than 1,400 people were charged with federal crimes associated with that protest, most with nonviolent offenses like trespassing. Over 900 people have been convicted. Amid tens of thousands of rally participants outside on the Capitol grounds, there were an estimated 50-75 offenders who committed violence or damaged the Capitol building.
For the record, I have ZERO sympathy for any of those violent offenders. But the Democrats, with the help of their Leftmedia publicists, cast all those present at the Capitol building as “violent insurrectionists.” They were not, but I would add here that entering the building that day amid all the protests constituted an act of idiocy.
Democrats have spent the last four years blaming Trump and all his “deplorables” across the nation for the actions of the jackasses who were violent. That narrative fueled Nancy Pelosi’s histrionic “insurrection” inquisition.
Predictably, responding to the prospect that Trump might now issue some pardons, Demo Senate Leader Chuck Schumer protested: “To those who used violence and intimidation to threaten our government, to hurt our government, and particularly to those who threatened police officers — pardoning them would set a terrible example for the future in America and for the world that it was okay, that it was forgivable to do this.”
Trump has not said he was going to pardon “those who used violence” or “those who threatened police,” unlike the long list of violent offenders who were gifted Biden’s latest pardons and clemencies. What Trump did say is, “A vast majority should not be in jail,” and he is correct. As for when he will issue pardons, he says: “Most likely, I’ll do it very quickly. Those people have suffered long and hard.”
With less than a week until Trump’s inauguration, JD Vance addressed the question of whether Trump planned to pardon “those who used violence.” He made this clear: “Look, if you protested peacefully on January the 6th, and you’ve had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
In any case, it is not my purpose with this column to argue the merits of pardons and clemencies; it’s to argue for the prosecution of a police officer. Having begun my career as a uniformed patrol officer, I do not suggest such prosecution lightly.
On January 6th, only one person was deliberately killed. Lt. Michael Byrd, a demonstrably incompetent black Capitol Police officer, shot Ashli Babbitt, a white, five-foot two-inch, 110-pound, 35-year-old woman and Air Force Veteran from California. Babbitt foolishly attempted to climb through a broken window within the Speaker’s Lobby leading to a hallway where some members of the House had taken refuge.
No, despite months of Demo and Leftmedia claims to the contrary, Officer Brian Sicknick was not killed by protesters.
But Babbitt was, by any objective account, unjustifiably shot and killed by Byrd.
For context, I have written at length about the race-bait games Demos play when a white police officer shoots a black assailant. Imagine the scale of protests if this had been a white officer who shot and killed an unarmed black, 110-pound female veteran who was a Biden constituent.
Actually, you don’t have to strain your imagination… (Stay with me on this because it’s relevant to the Babbitt/Byrd case.)
Consider the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old violent career criminal and perennial drug offender who died while being arrested and detained on the ground by police in the Democrat Party protectorate of Minneapolis. I argued at the time that the actions of white Officer Derek Chauvin may have been a negligent contributing factor in Floyd’s death, but notably, the ranking officer on the scene that day was a black female.
Predictably, Demos invoked their race-bait narrative to immediately convict Chauvin for the “murder” of Floyd.
However, Floyd’s autopsy led medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker to conclude his blood contained a “fatal level of fentanyl.” That, combined with a less-than-lethal dose of methamphetamine in his system, and a history of congestive heart failure, caused Floyd’s lungs to fill with fluid — which is why he could not breathe. Furthermore, Baker’s autopsy memorandum also revealed “no physical evidence suggesting that Mr. Floyd died of asphyxiation” and no “signs of petechiae, damage to his airways or thyroid, brain bleeding, bone injuries, or internal bruising.” He also noted that the fentanyl overdose “can cause pulmonary edema,” a fluid buildup in the lungs making it difficult to breathe, which is to say the “I Can’t Breathe” mantra had little to do with being held on the ground.
Recall that Pelosi and Schumer, in a theatrical political charade, kneeled for George Floyd in the Capitol rotunda, using his death as a prop in order to ignite and choreograph their constituents’ violent “summer of rage” riots ahead of the 2020 election.
Demos insisted that our justice system was infested with “systemic racism.” That was a lie. They supported their Black Lives Matter and antifa fascist thug violence nationwide while vilifying law enforcement officers. Across the nation, the mayors of Demo-controlled urban centers enacted measures to release criminals while simultaneously defunding the police.
Despite the autopsy evidence, Officer Chauvin was later (wrongfully, in my opinion) convicted of murdering Floyd.
So, what does the Floyd/Chauvin case have to do with the Babbitt/Byrd case?
The connection is the hypocritical proliferation of two-tiered justice over the last five years, one tier for tens of thousands of Demo rioters and another for the J6 protesters.
All told, there were more than 500 Demo-supported riots nationwide in the seven months before the J6 Capitol protest, resulting in dozens of murders including two police officers, billions in urban business and government building damage, and thousands of violent police and citizen assaults. But most of the Demo offenders were bailed out with charges dropped, including almost all the protesters arrested in Washington, DC. And notably, the Demos’ “summer of rage” unleashed a surge of violence nationwide that has yet to subside.
Chauvin is serving a 22.5-year prison sentence, while Byrd remains free of any charges or public review for killing Ashli Babbitt.
There is mounting evidence to exonerate Chauvin, particularly as outlined in an independent documentary about the case. He has barely survived attempts on his life by black inmates. And last week, Minneapolis cops took a stand for Chauvin, signing sworn declarations that MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell perjured herself when testifying against Chauvin at his murder trial.
But the DoJ is attempting to block Chauvin’s appeal.
Conversely, unlike all other officer-involved shootings and deaths, there has been no public information released about the investigation of Babbitt’s shooting.
Lt. Michael Byrd remains at large and protected by Demos as some kind of hero. They have prevented any public investigation into this case despite the evidence that the shooting of Babbitt was arguably unjustifiable.
The DoJ closed its investigation into the shooting of Babbitt, as did the DC Metro Police, the primary agency conducting the Byrd officer-involved shooting review — with no standard interview of Byrd.
Byrd, who claims he shot Babbitt out of fear, has been cleared of any charges.
Cleared, even though there are graphic videos of the shooting that show the circumstances from Babbitt’s side of the door before and after she was killed. What’s evident from those videos and from reports of those present is that within feet of Babbitt, there were four uniformed officers, at least four additional heavily armed riot police, and one or more plain-clothed officers — none of whom made an effort to prevent her attempt to climb through the broken window of the door before she was shot and killed.
Again, there is no apparent justification for Officer Byrd’s use of deadly force, and it was fortunate that none of the other officers immediately behind Babbitt were injured by his reckless actions.
If Ashli Babbitt’s death matters, and if fair and impartial justice matters, it is time for a full review of the whitewash of the Babbitt/Byrd case and full consideration given for the prosecution of her killer.
Perhaps the same day Trump pardons nonviolent J6 protesters, he will call on Congress to investigate Ashli’s death.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
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