The Acting House Sergeant at Arms appeared before a House committee and appears to have named Ashli Babbitt’s shooter.
Timothy Blodgett, in an exchange with Rep. Herrera-Buetler during a hearing on Jan. 6 that appeared on C-SPAN, seems to have casually dropped the name.
“The situation where you discussed, where Officer [Byrd] was at the door when Ms. Babbitt was shot, it was our Sergeant at Arms employee who rendered the aid.”
It is interesting that Blodgett names an “Officer Byrd” in the context of Ashli Babbitt’s shooting. An African-American Lieutenant Mike Byrd was reported by Roll Call as having once left his service weapon in a bathroom in 2019.
“A U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant left his service weapon in a bathroom Monday night and the unattended gun was discovered later by another Capitol Police officer,” Roll Call reported.
“After the House adjourned on Monday, Lt. Mike Byrd left his Glock 22 in a bathroom in the Capitol Visitor Center complex, according to sources familiar with the incident,” the report said. “Byrd is the commander of the House Chambers section of the Capitol Police and was on the job Tuesday and Wednesday.”
“Byrd addressed the incident at Tuesday morning’s officer roll call and, according to sources, told fellow officers that he ‘will be treated differently’ because of his rank as a lieutenant,” the report added. “It was not clear what exactly the lieutenant meant by the comment.”
The New York Times reported more information about the unidentified shooter in January, who called him a “lieutenant” and a “veteran officer.” He was not charged for excessive force or for negligence after shooting the unarmed woman. As far as the unidentified police officer is concerned, he is reportedly in hiding. The Capitol Police is directly supervised by the U.S. Congress, and is thus immune from subpoena.
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