CNN, C-SPAN Scrub Rumored Babbitt Shooter's Name from Transcript of House Sergeant at Arms Testimony
Freelance reporter Tayler Hansen was at the Capitol building covering the action as it unfolded on Jan. 6. According to a RealClearInvestigations report published on Wednesday, Hansen was standing outside the Speaker’s Lobby with 35-year-old Air Force veteran and Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt when she was shot.
In an April 13 Twitter post, Hansen named Lt. Michael L. Byrd as the U.S. Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Babbitt.
On Saturday, Hansen posted a C-SPAN video of Timothy Blodgett, the acting sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives, speaking before a Feb. 21 hearing of the House Legislative Branch Subcommittee on the Capitol incursion, in which he mentioned “Officer Byrd.”
“We were in close contact, that situation where Officer Byrd was at the door when Ms. Babbitt was shot. It was our sergeant-at-arms employee who rendered the aid to her,” Blodgett told lawmakers.
This statement placed Byrd at the door but didn’t “confirm” that he pulled the trigger, as Hansen claimed Saturday.
Sergeant At Arms, Timothy Blodgett goofed in a hearing and confirms Lieutenant Mike Byrd killed Ashli Babbitt.
He also claims his Sergeant at Arms employee rendered aid, he is lying. His employee touched her once, watched her bleed out, then contaminated the crime scene. https://t.co/M8uCWRKkfQ pic.twitter.com/lHxIfN0tz6
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) July 3, 2021
Understandably, this Twitter post has gone viral over the past week.
It is noteworthy, but hardly surprising, that both C-SPAN and CNN have deleted Byrd’s name from the hearing transcript.
CSPAN also altered the text to leave Byrd’s name out. Not suspect AT ALL!
It’s past time to arrest Mike Byrd pic.twitter.com/h1JkZlW6JH
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) July 3, 2021
Although there has been no confirmation that Byrd shot Babbitt, there appears to be a growing amount of circumstantial evidence pointing to him as the shooter.
As BizPacReview noted in a report Wednesday, “according to some reports, Babbitt’s shooter was said to be wearing a beaded bracelet that looked like one Byrd wore as well.”
Videos from Jan. 6 showing the shooter’s arm reveal, at the very least, a similar beaded bracelet.
RealClearInvestigations’ Paul Sperry reported that Byrd’s online presence has been scrubbed, including all social media and personal photos, and that Byrd has been placed on administrative leave since Jan. 6.
Sperry spoke to Terrell Roberts, the attorney currently representing Aaron Babbitt, Ashli’s husband. Roberts’ efforts to obtain information from the Capitol Police on Babbitt’s death have been met with silence.
Unlike police departments throughout the U.S., Sperry noted, “Congress has exempted the USCP from Freedom of Information Act requests.”
On behalf of Aaron Babbitt, Roberts has filed a lawsuit against the Capitol Police for “documents that identify the officer who shot Babbitt … as well as notes and summaries of what the officer said regarding the shooting and the reasons he discharged his weapon.”
A hearing in the case is set for Sept. 3, according to the report.
Roberts told Sperry that Hansen is a key witness in the case. “Hansen was present when Ashli was shot. He has spoken with my investigator. He provided a reliable and accurate account of what he saw; he also made a video recording, which proved useful.”
Sperry reported that an investigator in Roberts’ office “has positively identified the shooter from a ‘painstaking’ analysis of photos and videos taken by journalists and witnesses inside the Capitol.” The investigator has also received “tips from citizens and other information.”
The report said that previous speculation about the Babbitt shooting had already led to a Capitol Police officer being incorrectly identified as the gunman. However, in that case, the Capitol Police issued a news release specifically denying that particular officer was involved.
There has been no such denial in the Byrd case, Sperry noted.
So, what’s behind this massive coverup?
- Media outlets such as the liberal CNN and the supposedly balanced C-SPAN have hidden this man’s name, even when it was uttered by the House sergeant at arms during a congressional hearing.
- The Department of Justice issued a news release on April 14 that said that no charges would be filed against the individual who was responsible for Babbitt’s death. The announcement did not reveal the officer’s name.
- The Capitol Police refuse to provide any information at all to the family of the unarmed woman who was shot to death on Jan. 6.
- As the speculation surrounding Byrd has grown, the Capitol Police have issued no denials.
Following the DOJ’s April 14 decision not to charge the individual who shot Babbitt, Roberts spoke to Newsmax. When asked if Babbitt’s family believes that “politics” played a role in that conclusion, he replied, “Clearly, that has everything to do with it, unfortunately. It shouldn’t.”
“We think the evidence is ample and would support criminal charges against the officer,” he said.
“There’s no warning even before he shoots,” Roberts said. “This is a situation in which the officer could have easily arrested her, if he had grounds to arrest her, without using deadly force. So, an egregious act of excessive force, should have been charged.”
The Capitol Police officer who shot Babbitt has retained high-powered Washington lawyer Mark E. Schamel to represent him.
This choice lends further credence to the theory that politics is behind the lack of cooperation from the Capitol Police and the DOJ.
The Washington Times reported that Schamel previously represented Igor Danchenko, “the shadowy figure who funneled information to Christopher Steele for his notorious election-year dossier.” Danchenko also “traveled to Moscow to find supposed dirt on candidate Donald Trump.”
According to Sperry’s report, Schamel refuses to reveal his client’s name because it “could put his life in jeopardy. He said the officer has received ‘credible’ death threats and has gone into hiding.”
Why is the officer in hiding? Probably for the same reason that CNN and C-SPAN removed the mention of Byrd’s name from the transcript of Blodgett’s February congressional testimony.
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