Now we learn that we have a federal police force that is not accountable to the public
[Hat tip: Cornflour and sdferr.]
We have likely learned the name of the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt on January 6, 2021:
Now a new name has surfaced in the Babbitt imbroglio — Lt. Michael L. Byrd — and while USCP Communications Director Eva Malecki won’t confirm he is the shooter, in this case she isn’t denying it.
In a little-noticed exchange, Byrd was cited by the acting House sergeant at arms during a brief discussion of the officer who shot Babbitt at a Feb. 25 House hearing. Both C-SPAN and CNN removed his name from transcripts, but CQ Transcripts — which, according to its website, provides “the complete word from Capitol Hill; exactly as it was spoken” — recorded the Capitol official, Timothy Blodgett, referring to the cop as “Officer Byrd.” His name is clearly audible in the videotape of the hearing…
Byrd appears to match the description of the shooter, who video footage shows is an African American dressed that day in a business suit. Jewelry, including a beaded bracelet and lapel pin, also match up with photos of Byrd.
In addition, Byrd’s resume lines up with what is known about the experience and position of the officer involved in the shooting — a veteran USCP officer who holds the rank of lieutenant and is the commander of the House Chamber Section of the Capitol Police.
Following the shooting, Byrd’s Internet footprint was scrubbed, including his social media and personal photos…
In February 2019, Lt. Byrd was investigated for leaving his department-issued Glock-22 firearm unattended in a restroom on the House side of the Capitol…
Some general information was already known from videos – such as, for example, his physical description. But his name has been kept secret, and the details of any investigation have been kept secret as well. This is shocking, compared to the rules for disclosure of the facts about similar actions by the regular police. To me, that’s actually the most important revelation that has come in the course of learning about Ashli Babbitt’s killing.
For example, from the same article:
…Congress has exempted the USCP from Freedom of Information Act requests…
Unlike other police forces, USCP does not have to disclose records on police misconduct.
More than 700 complaints were lodged against Capitol Police officers between 2017 and 2019, but brass won’t say what the alleged violations were or how the department resolved them. They also won’t disclose how many complaints are in any individual officer’s file.
While the USCP has an inspector general, he does not make reports public, unlike other agency watchdogs. His report on Jan. 6 remains secret.
Critics say the 193-year-old agency is in dire need of reform. They point out that even the Secret Service complies with FOIA requests and releases reports and audits by its internal watchdog. The Capitol Police, in contrast, won’t even reveal how many sworn officers it has on hand.
“Unlike the [D.C. Police] and the vast majority of local police forces, the USCP provides little public information about its activities,” complained Daniel Schuman, policy director of the D.C. watchdog group Demand Progress, in a recent letter to the heads of the congressional panels who have oversight authority over USCP.
D.C. law requires police to identify the officer involved in a police shooting within five business days after an officer-involved death or serious use of force. Officials must publicly release the names and body-camera recordings of all officers involved in the death or use of force. The law does not cover the Capitol Police, however, even though D.C. Police work in conjunction with that agency on homicide cases and fatal traffic accidents.
The Babbitt shooting has thrust this double standard into the national spotlight.
Double standard indeed.
The explanation for not revealing the name is the fear of death threats. Well, the same is true for every single police officer whose name is released after killing someone in an encounter – in particular, for white police officers killing black suspects. And yet their names are ordinarily released very quickly; there is no such consideration for their safety, or at least any concerns about safety are considered to be overridden by the public’s need to know.
Why are the Capitol Police different? Why are they even less accountable than the Secret Service? I believe it is because they are Congress’s special police force, and Congress made the rules exempting them. And now – as reported yesterday – this special protected force is going to be expanded to other parts of the US.
Note that after the near-murder of Steve Scalise, and the attempted murder of several other GOP members of Congress, no such expansion of the Capitol Police occurred. And yet that incident was far more dangerous and threatening to members of Congress than anything that happened on January 6th. In fact, on January 6th, the only killing that occurred was at the hands of a Capitol Police officer, for reasons that have yet to be elucidated for the public.
A certain rough justice would be done if he and his family had to skip town ahead of a posse. Justice is seldom done, in this country, of course.
@neo:Note that after the near-murder of Steve Scalise, and the attempted murder of several other GOP members of Congress, no such expansion of the Capitol Police occurred. And yet that incident was far more dangerous and threatening to members of Congress than anything that happened on January 6th.
Was it?
Scalise’s life was threatened, as were some individual politicians. But Jan 6 was perceived by Congress to have threatened the LIVELIHOODS of Congressmen and Senators COLLECTIVELY and the livelihoods of their patrons and/or clients.
And that’s why Congress is responding collectively with an expanded institution.
Interesting to see what McConnell does.
The DOW may be down, but tar and feathers futures are soaring.
The USCP is not quite the secret police yet, so far as I know, but early days…
Clearly they are expanding.
___________________________________
Secret police — Police established by national governments to maintain political and social control. Generally clandestine, secret police have operated independently of the civil police.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/secret-police
Why would there be death threats for the hero that saved us from the worst attack on the US Capitol since 1812? Besides, after their heroic actions, we had the National Guard protecting everyone for a 5 (maybe more, quit counting) block radius. How was the person under any threat? We should know the name of this hero that protected our Democracy.
Lack of disclosure suggests a lack of consistency that January 6th was really anything other than protestors parading around the Capitol to make their voices heard, while a single shot rang out to quell the speech of the people and stop them dead in their tracks. To make the double standard crystal clear; I’ll just leave this here: Regarding double standards: I’ll just leave this here: https://abcnews.go.com/US/meet-police-officers-prevented-massacre-gop-baseball-practice/story?id=48037013
“Congress has exempted the USCP from Freedom of Information Act requests…”
And therein lies ultimate responsibility.
“Jan 6 was perceived by Congress to have threatened the LIVELIHOODS of Congressmen and Senators COLLECTIVELY and the livelihoods of their patrons and/or clients.” Frederick
The tone of your comment indicates you actually believe that drivel. News flash! Congressmen and Senators work for the people not the reverse. In the aggregate, Congress is in blatant violation(s) of their oath. The people present on Jan. 6th were there to remind them of their responsibility and to obtain redress of grievance in a stolen election. Almost all were unarmed and peaceful. Such do not threaten the “livelihoods” of Congress.
Geoffrey Britain:
I read Frederick’s comment as sarcasm. It’s so hard to tell these days!
Perhaps he will clarify.
Huxley, I think you’re right. In our day, sarcasm and parody can so easily be missed. The world around us is as absurd as any parody we could invent.
I read Frederick’s comment as sarcasm as well.
Geoffrey jumps the shark?
When Republicans congress critters are shot it’s no big deal. When Nancy’s desk is rearranged someone (a citizen) is shot, summarily executed, murdered immediately. Message sent.
Ashli Babbitt, RIP.
Was the USCP in charge of investigating the murder of Seth Rich?
Cap’n Rusty, the DC Police were in charge of that investigation.
OTOH, the US Capitol Police were probably in charge of making sure it was not PROPERLY investigated.
I did wonder whether Frederick’s comment was meant as sarcasm. If so, it escaped me. And if so, I apologize. But would ask him to in future be a bit more obvious for the dullards such as myself.
The CP are an embryo of a national secret police if the Dems stay in power.
I recently noted that the Capital Police are opening offices in CA and FL. My suspicion is that the goal of ‘defund the police’ is to drive the number of officers down to the point where we will welcome a national police force. A police force controlled, recruited, and paid for by US. A police force that will have no local oversite. Similarly to the CCP troops moved into the city to resolve the Tiananmen Square problem.
I wouldn’t say it was “sarcasm”, I’d say I was describing a point of view I do not personally hold.
I think the Congresscritters really do feel more threatened by what happened Jan 6 than by what happened to Steve Scalise. Certainly they don’t want to get killed by nutters. But the once-in-a-blue-moon attack on individual Congressmen is a much lower threat (in their eyes) than the American people (who I agree with Geoffrey that Congress ought to serve, but rarely has) potentially taking their collective power and perks away.
Does no one read “The Gilded Age” anymore? It’s fiction, yes, but it’s not hard to find the history on which it’s based. Congress protects its privilege of directing tax money and shields its own from accountability. Remember the one caught with cash bribes in his freezer, and both parties worked to protect him?
The raid of Jefferson’s office set off a series of political events: Jefferson immediately challenged the action in federal court. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued “a rare joint statement demanding that the FBI return the documents and saying that Jefferson then should cooperate more fully with the investigation”. “Many Republicans and Democrats contend that the unprecedented raid on a congressional office was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government that are meant to shelter lawmakers from administrative intimidation.” Tensions escalated to the point where – according to AP – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, his deputy Paul McNulty, and possibly FBI Director Robert Mueller “were said to be ready to quit if the Justice Department was asked to return the Jefferson documents … [while the] House was threatening to go after the Justice Department’s budget”.
One odd thing about this situation perhaps helps in removing doubt, especially as it has been put into the ‘Ignored and Unexplored’ file by the media:
Michael Byrd has been on extended leave ever since January 6th, appears to still be on leave, does not return calls, and has rather professionally scrubbed his online social media presence.
Why?
Paraphrasing Holmes, it’s odd that the dog didn’t bark.
@Aggie:
It’s suggestive.
Aggie – a literal embodiment of “nothing to see here!”
The dots are connected by J. E. Dyer.
The branch offices of the Capitol Police, the spying on Tucker Carlson, and “the Biden administration’s Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, which was promulgated in March 2021. This is the overarching guidance that is supposed to inform all policies relating to national security, which would include the domestic terrorism strategy.”
Plus the Wuhan Lab Leak.
RTWT – but here are some of her conclusions, after walking us carefully through the background and the implications.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/07/08/license-to-monitor-national-strategies-the-capitol-police-and-tucker-carlson/
And they’ll come for your Legos too.
(Check the comments for D4x’s remarks.)
And this.
https://babylonbee.com/news/fbi-claims-sauron-had-lego-model-of-minas-tirith-in-his-bedroom
“Why are the Capitol Police different? Why are they even less accountable than the Secret Service?”
Congress routinely exempts themselves from the laws they pass. Why should their Police force be any different?
“But Jan 6 was perceived by Congress to have threatened the LIVELIHOODS of Congressmen and Senators…”
I think the sentiment that the Congresscritters are/were scared is true but for a slightly different reason. It’s very probable that the Democrats set up the whole breach scenario and that FBI Informants/Instigators led the charge while the highly-paid and under-worked Capitol Police watched from the sidelines. It was all an effort to tarnish Trump and his voters.
They wanted a small event that they could spin as a riot. Instead, they got a “mostly peaceful protest”. They wanted a group of clueless trespassers, they got a mob. They scripted some political theater where they could pretend to be in danger but they lost control of the narrative. Members of Congress were never in any danger but the events drove home the point that they are not immune from the events that they create. They thought that they were untouchable and all powerful, they learned some reality and Congresscritters don’t like reality. And some of them, in the wee hours of the morning, probably think about the mobs they’ve been encouraging in their districts and whether or not those mobs will turn on them (hint: they will).
Democrats and their Propaganda Ministry as well as their street gangs, BLM and Antifa are sure quick to want any policeman who has a confrontation with a minority his identification.
Big 404 on Wikipedia and Farcebook on Michael L. Byrd searches.
Here’s a question for Neo and all the folks here: How do you keep from sinking into despair over everything that’s happening?
I’m not normally given to darkness and depression. But taking all of this in, even a confirmed optimist or Pollyanna would have a hard time not heading over to the liquor store for a bender.