Ashli Babbitt: Judicial Watch files a J6 wrongful death lawsuit

Karine Jean-Pierre (KJP) was recently at it again, claiming police officers were killed on January 6.  If “fact checkers” bothered to fact check her, they’d discover no officers died, but USAF veteran Ashli Babbitt was killed, shot by the diverse Capital Police Lt. Michael Byrd. Byrd was never charged, but has been promoted. Fortunately, Judicial Watch isn’t letting America forget Babbitt’s murder: 

Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Government on behalf of the family of Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021 (Estate of Ashli Babbitt and Aaron Babbitt, et al. v. United States of America (No. 3:24-cv-00033)).

The lawsuit includes claims against the U.S. Government for wrongful death, assault and battery, and various negligence issues.

Image: Judicial Watch press release graphic

I’ve extensively covered Babbitt’s murder at my home blog, including Byrd’s record of firearm incompetence. The lawsuit alleges even greater, and more dangerous, incompetence than has been previously known:

The lawsuit argues that, based on prior incidents involving Lt. Byrd, the Capitol Police, Capitol Police Board, and ultimately Congress, as Lt. Byrd’s employer, “knew or should have known that Lt. Byrd was prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner:”

Less than two years before January 6, 2021, on or about February 25, 2019, Lt. Byrd left his loaded Glock 22 – the same firearm he used to shoot and kill Ashli Babbitt – in a bathroom in the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) complex. Lt. Byrd’s loaded Glock was discovered during a routine security sweep later the same day. Approximately 15,00 to 20,000 people pass through the CVC, which serves as the main entrance for visitors to the U.S. Capitol, daily during peak season (March-July). Lawmakers and staff charged with oversight of the USCP were not made aware of the incident until contacted by a reporter.

This bit of incompetence was previously known. It’s the kind of lapse for which police officers are routinely fired, but not Byrd. This was not previously known:

Lt. Byrd’s police powers had been revoked on more than one occasion prior to January 6, 2021, for failing to meet or complete semiannual firearms qualification requirements. In fact, Lt. Byrd had a reputation among peers for not being a good shot. Under USCP’s range management system, an officer who fails to meet firearm qualification requirements is given one week of remedial training. If the officer still fails to qualify after remedial training, police powers are then revoked until the officer qualifies.

Lt. Byrd’s police powers also were revoked for a prior off-duty shooting into a stolen, moving vehicle in which the occupants were teenagers or juveniles. The stolen vehicle was Lt. Byrd’s car. Lt. Byrd fired multiple shots at the fleeing vehicle in a suburban area. Stray bullets from Lt. Byrd’s firearm struck the sides of homes nearby. An official investigation found that Lt. Byrd’s use of force was not justified.

The Washington Examiner has the complete lawsuit filing. 

So Byrd failed to qualify a few times. So what? Most Americans don’t know police officers tend not to be good shots. Most aren’t gun guys and girls. Many possess only their issued handgun. Police qualifications have a low minimum passing score, usually no more than 70%, fired at short distances with generous, or no, time limits. They can miss 30% of shots fired under ideal circumstances, and still pass. Officers are usually allowed as many “do-overs” as necessary to minimally pass. This is important because there are many cases on file of officers shooting at suspects at inside-a-phone-booth ranges, and missing, while ventilating the surrounding countryside.

That was the case with Byrd, who on January 6 was depicted walking about with his finger on the trigger of his 5.5 pound trigger pull Glock, a flashing red warning of an incompetent, dangerous cop. Striking was the lawsuit’s allegation of Byrd wildly firing at his own stolen vehicle, and apparently hitting only surrounding homes. That’s precisely the kind of horrific handgun control and alarmingly bad judgment that would get most cops instantly fired.

Why wasn’t Byrd fired for that incident, leaving his handgun in a bathroom and for killing Babbitt? Byrd is black. Firing him would expose diversity hiring, retention and promotion practices, and prosecuting him for an obvious murder would damage the Jan. 6 insurrection narrative. Instead, Byrd was proclaimed a hero and promoted to captain. Ashli Babbitt was not available for comment.

Hopefully, the Judicial Watch lawsuit will proceed. The Mummified Meat Puppet Administration will surely do all it can to quash it, because discovery will be, to put it mildly, revealing. Or maybe we’ll be surprised and the most transparent administration ever will actually opt for transparency. This is me, bitterly laughing.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.