House Democrats pressured U.S. Capitol Police to provide special financial assistance and even a promotion to the officer who fatally shot unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer and charitable assistance not provided to other officers, according to internal emails reviewed by Just the News.
“He is very upset about how he is being treated. He wants us to figure this out and now,” a top congressional aide to then-House Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, wrote to Capitol Police in November 2021 pressing for more assistance to Lt. Michael Byrd after he killed Babbitt.
File:
The records show that pressure also came from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff and from then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, causing Capitol Police to find any solution they could to make Byrd and Democrats happy. Despite the extraordinary assistance, Byrd expressed dissatisfaction and continued to insist he deserved more, to the chagrin of Capitol Police officials, according to records assembled by Congress.
“We play the game as you request and then once we’re in compliance You guys change the rules on us,” Byrd wrote to U.S. Capitol Police General Counsel Thomas DiBiase in November 2021 after being informed he wouldn’t be able to immediately access charitable funds from a memorial fund for fallen or wounded officers: 2021.11.16 – Re Memorial Fund (play the game).pdf
The department’s chief later told Byrd he would not be offered any further assistance from the memorial fund, but Capitol Police instead helped set up a GoFundMe that landed Byrd more than $160,000 in extra funds. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D- Calif., was one of the many progressives who donated to and promoted the fundraising.
The revelations were uncovered during probe by Chairman Barry Loudermilk’s House Administration Oversight Subcommittee into the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and follow findings that Byrd has a significant disciplinary record that resulted in six referrals to the USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
At least one of these incidents resulted in a referral to a prosecutor and others ended with temporary suspensions, Just the News reported earlier this month.
“In addition to USCP’s decision to promote Byrd despite his disciplinary history, I also have concerns about the decisions USCP made with respect to Byrd after January 6, 2021,” Loudermilk wrote in a letter to current USCP Chief Thomas Manger, previously published by Just the News.
Loudermilk told the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show that it is understandable that House Democratic leadership would want to ensure that Byrd was well taken care of considering he did end up unfortunately taking a life, but that their calls for assistance for the then-lieutenant went above and beyond other officers.
“[They] went to extremes, to where they gave bonuses to officers who are on the front line of the battle, that was a few thousand dollars—Byrd gets one of $37,000 okay, it’s not equally played,” Loudermilk said.
“I think people should really be considering the earlier question, which is whether he should have been on the force,” the chairman said referring to the now-captain’s lengthy disciplinary record.
You can read Loudermilk’s letter below:
11.20.2024 Letter From Rep. Barry Loudermilk to USCP Chief of Police Manger.pdfThe committee’s investigation uncovered evidence that the USCP went to extraordinary lengths to promote Byrd and provide him financial support dwarfing that received by other officers on duty on Jan. 6, including attempts to use a memorial fund for wounded officers to compensate him.
……..According to the email, the USCP discussed providing several financial benefits to Byrd including compensating him from a memorial fund dedicated to officers wounded in the line of duty, finding a way to promote him to captain, and providing options to help him move to a new home.
Later that same day, DiBiase informed Byrd’s lawyer in a July 2021 email that the USCP has been “discussing Mike’s situation with the Speaker’s staff” and that they would like to discuss the options that came up.
After meeting with leadership, the USCP got to work on the “To Do” list.
For example, the USCP helped to provide significant financial benefits for Byrd that included a high retention bonus and help with private fundraising, beyond any efforts by the department to help other officers on duty that day, according to the memos.
After January 6, Byrd was offered a $37,000 retention bonus by the department which dwarfed a $3,000 bonus offered to all officers in the wake of the riot. According to the emails, this was the “maximum” they could do under Capitol Police policy.
Despite this, the emails show that Byrd was apparently “disappointed” with the financial support and repeatedly failed to sign the retention agreement that warranted the payments.
……..But, Byrd was upset that the financial assistance was not coming quick enough and expressed his frustration in an email to DiBiase in November 2021.
“We’re working on an announcement for the entire department as to how folks injured on 1/6 can apply to the [Memorial Fund] and we will consider all the claims at that point,” DiBiase wrote to Byrd.
“I don’t think that’s fair to me or my wife you know our situation and what we’ve been dealing with,” Byrd replied.
“What you proposed could take months,” he added. “Our expectation was that this would be done soon. Now you’re telling me we got to wait for the rest of the department to even file claims, get evaluated and go through the process we have endured for months.”
“That is blatantly wrong to treat us like this. This was never proposed to us in this manner. Now we’re being grouped in with everyone else. Wow!” Byrd wrote.
DiBiase appeared startled by Byrd’s dissatisfaction with the USCP’s support.
“Mike, I’m sorry you are disappointed. I find that surprising since we have already provided you $36,000 in unrestricted retention funds,” DiBiase replied. “You know what the rest of the department is receiving? $3,000 each.”
……..This answer appeared not to satisfy Byrd. “We play the game as you request and then once we’re in compliance You guys change the rules on us,” he wrote back.
Read the entire sickening thing at the article. The pandering and ass kissing by the USCP and the Dems was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever read.
Byrd was eventually promoted in spite of the fact that he’s a fuck up and a disciplinary nightmare.
Just some of the shit he’s pulled:
- A 2004 incident where Byrd, who was off duty, fired his weapon at a stolen vehicle as it was fleeing his residential neighborhood;
- A 2015 “conduct unbecoming an officer” complaint filed by a fellow officer after Byrd, again off duty, confronted him while the officer was working at a high school football game in an incident with racial overtones;
- A 33-day suspension in 2019 after Byrd left his service weapon unattended in a public Capitol Hill bathroom;
- A failure to pass a routine background check shortly after Jan. 6 when attempting to purchase a shotgun for home protection, after the USCP worked to provide Byrd a department-issued shotgun instead, he failed the training; and
- Three further referrals to the Capitol Police Office of Professional Responsibility for which records are reportedly missing.
That pig shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a gun or position of authority.
Related article:
https://conservativebrief.com/house-dems-87722/