New information has emerged in the shooting of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt in the US Capitol on Jan. 6.
Babbitt was shot by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd as she attempted to enter the House chamber.
Byrd has since been cleared by both the Capitol Police and the Democrat-led Justice Department.
But according to documents that Judicial Watch obtained through a Freedom of Information lawsuit, a Capitol Police Sergeant positioned behind Byrd as he shot did not see any weapons in the hands of Ashli Babbit as she climbed through the door.
“I didn’t see anything in her hands,” the sergeant said.
The officer also was in a position to evaluate Lt. Byrd’s reaction in the aftermath of the shooting:
“No, his eyes were red,” said the witness. “He was, you could see he was visibly upset and he just, you know, kind of comfort him [sic] and told him, you know, we gotta get outta here.”
Another officer who “was immediately behind Byrd in the Speaker’s Lobby” also said that he “did not see [the victim] in possession of any potential weapons.”
With respect to Byrd’s condition, he said that “Lieutenant Byrd was shaking, he did not say anything . . . Byrd was nervous, teary-eyed, and appeared very upset.”
Another officer present at the scene said that “he did not hear any verbal commands” prior to the shot.
Byrd officially revealed himself to be the shooter in late-August, and gave an interview to NBC Nightly News in which he claimed: “I tried to wait as long as I could . . . I hoped and prayed no one tried to enter through those doors. But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers . . . I know that day I saved countless lives.”
