GOP chairman pressing Capitol Police over cop with disciplinary record who fatally shot J6 protester

The House chairman leading the probe into the U.S. Capitol Police and security failures during the Jan. 6 riot said the officer who shot Ashli Babbitt that day probably should not have been employed with the department after uncovering his disciplinary record. 

The probe by Barry Loudermilk, chairman of the House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight, found the officer, Capt. Michael Byrd, has a lengthy internal affairs and disciplinary record that includes several firearm-related incident including a 33-day suspension for a lost weapon and a referral to Maryland state prosecutors for firing his gun at a stolen car fleeing his neighborhood, Just the News reported Wednesday. 

“[One] of the reasons that has prompted us to dig deeply into this, is to look to see, is this an isolated event, or is this a systemic problem within the Capitol Police? And unfortunately, we found more and more instances,” Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican, told the Just the News, No Noise TV show set to air on Thursday. 

“I can't imagine another police department in the United States, and I've kind of, without revealing anything, ran this back through some of the law enforcement officers back in Georgia, or the sheriffs and other police chiefs, and all of them said, absolutely no way."

He also said: “You cannot have someone with – especially if the disciplinary actions have been over reckless discharge or your firearm or not being able to keep the firearm, I mean, these are the types of things that you don't want to trust an officer in the field with…so absolutely everyone that I've laid out the this scenario without revealing who it is, they've all said no, that that officer would have no longer been employed in their departments."

Loudermilk said his committee is concerned that the treatment exhibited in Byrd’s case is not isolated. 

“What it appears from the information that we've gathered is that there, there is selective discipline within the Capitol Police, and it's not equal. Some will get a slap on the wrist. Some will have their in the entire disciplinary process overridden by somebody in leadership,” he said. 

Loudermilk sent a letter on Wednesday to Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger further probing the incidents and says he hopes the department will be responsive to his concerns and open to reform.