Posted on 08/26/2021 4:45:04 PM PDT by RandFan
The officer who shot and killed a woman during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has come forward after months of secrecy surrounding his identity due to reported death threats and heated Republican rhetoric about his actions.
Lt. Michael Leroy Byrd, a 28-year-veteran of the force, told NBC News on Thursday that it has been “frightening” to receive death threats for doing his job.
“They talked about, you know, killing me, cutting off my head, you know, very vicious and cruel things. … There were some racist attacks as well,” he said, calling them “disheartening because I know I was doing my job.”
In the moments leading up to the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, Byrd said: “I was very afraid. I’m hearing about the breaches of different barricaded areas, officers being overrun, officers being down.”
“Once we barricaded the doors, we were essentially trapped where we were. There was no way to retreat. No other way to get out,” he added.
Byrd said he did not regret his actions, though he called firing his weapon a “last resort.”
“I followed my training, and I spent countless years preparing for such a moment,” he said, noting that to him in that moment Babbitt “was posing a threat” to lawmakers in the House Chamber.
At that time, he said, he did not know that she was unarmed, but there had been reports of shots fired in the Capitol.
“I know that day I saved countless lives. I know members of Congress as well as my fellow officers and staff were in jeopardy and in serious danger. That’s my job.”
“I believe I showed the utmost courage on Jan. 6, and it’s time for me to do that now” in coming forward, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
He did save countless lives. Exactly 0.
Murdered 1 though.
I remember that name and I remember what he did to an innocent unarmed woman standing behind her front door holding an infant and her arms
He saved countless lives???? Filthy piece of sh*t
ping
“ At that time, he said, he did not know that she was unarmed, but there had been reports of shots fired in the Capitol.”
This idiot would do well to keep his mouth shut. That description is a bad shoot. You cannot deploy deadly force unless you are threatened with deadly force. You can’t simply kill someone because someone someplace else is making reports of violence.
He is a monster.
*
That’s what he has to tell himself in order to be able to sleep at night.
Apparently he can. He’s getting away with it.
“I followed my training, and I spent countless years preparing for such a moment,....”
Did part of your training include leaving your service weapon in the bathroom after you dropped a deuce? Dolt... 28 year veteran shooting an unarmed woman. Bet he feels like a big man with his head held high.
I can’t read this article. It boils my blood.
I was right again.
They tried to give this guy a platform to spew his bull Shiite. But Isis had different ideas. How many lives did Joe Biden save today? At least this is one killer who had his voice muted today.
>> “I know that day I saved countless lives”
Completely BS — And I mean complete as in fake “siege”.
Lots of options he can - and should - choose from. Any of them would make me happy.
>> You had 2 OFFICERS STANDING NEXT TO HER CARRYING AR TYPE RIFFLES.
Actors... one was cross-eyed.
👍
Ashli was surrounded by armed Capitol Police within arm's reach.
He should have shot the Antifa protestors that were using a helmet, and a stick of some kind, to break the windows on the doors. They were walking back and forth, and reaching over the shoulders of the 3-4 Capitol Hill police officers to hit the windows. That in itself should have caused those officers to subdue and remove the perps. They actually had items that could be used as weapons on others. There were only two of them hitting the windows, but the cops stood there, and let them do it. And so did Byrd. Instead, he chooses to shoot a woman who had no helmet, no stick, nothing that she could have hurt anyone with.
I don't care what kind of training those cops get, you do not let anyone get that close to you with anything that can be used as a weapon on you. The behavior of the cops was bizarre.
If only he hadn’t mentioned courage . . .
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