President Trump says he’s ‘going to take a look at’ fatal Jan. 6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt



President Donald J. Trump said he plans to investigate the “unthinkable” Jan. 6 fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt and why the U.S. Department of Justice is still opposing the $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Aaron Babbitt and Judicial Watch.

In a March 25 interview with Greg Kelly of Newsmax, President Trump said he plans to look into Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, who killed Babbitt from a hidden position, allegedly before even establishing whether she was armed or otherwise a threat. Byrd has said he feared for his life.

'She was innocently standing there.'

Kelly noted that Byrd — who is now a captain assigned to a training role making nearly $190,000 a year — was promoted in 2023 and given a medal by the Biden administration in the wake of the fatal shooting.

“I think it’s a disgrace,” President Trump said. “I’m going to take a look at it. I’m going to look at that, too. His reputation was, I won’t even say. Let’s find out about his reputation, OK? We’re going to find out.”

Trump’s comment seemed a likely reference to a letter released in late 2024 by U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who detailed Byrd’s history of alleged aggressive personal behavior and reckless use of his service weapon. Loudermilk, then chairman of the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, said the records of three disciplinary cases against Byrd were somehow missing.

Writing to Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, Loudermilk said Byrd was given $36,000 in unrestricted funds as a “retention bonus” in 2021, while other Capitol Police officers received around $3,000 each. Byrd was reimbursed for more than $21,000 in security upgrades for his personal residence in Prince George’s County, Md.

Manger recently announced his plans to retire, effective May 2.

U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd appears to have his finger on the trigger of his service weapon while walking on the U.S. House floor as rioters broke windows at the House entrance at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Graphic overlay by Blaze News

Byrd complained bitterly in emails at the slow pace of an ultimately doomed plan to provide him with cash from the Capitol Police Officers Memorial Fund, Loudermilk’s letter said.

Capitol Police paid to house Byrd at the Joint Base Andrews military facility from July 2021 until late January 2022 at a cost of more than $35,000, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch Inc. When he left the base for any reason, Byrd was provided with a Capitol Police dignitary protection detail, which a source told Blaze News could easily cost $425 per hour.

A Blaze News investigation found that Byrd was recommended for termination for a 2001 incident for reportedly abandoning his post in the House Speaker’s Office for a card game in a nearby cloakroom and lying about it to Internal Affairs Division investigators.

House investigators also detailed a case in which Byrd allegedly fired at a fleeing vehicle outside his home, then lied to local police, saying the van was driving directly at him when he fired his Capitol Police service weapon.

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President Trump indicated he wasn’t aware that the DOJ continues to oppose the $30 million federal wrongful-death lawsuit filed on Jan. 5, 2024.

“I’ll look into that. You’re just telling me that for the first time,” Trump told Kelly. “I haven’t heard that.

“I’m a big fan of Ashli Babbitt, OK?” Trump said. “Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan, and she was innocently standing there — they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd — and a man did something to her that was unthinkable when he shot her. I think it’s a disgrace. I’m going to look into that. I did not know that.”

'We’re prepared to fire back at them. We have guns drawn.'

While the legacy media have painted the veteran of 14 years in the U.S. Air Force and several years in the D.C. National Guard as a rioter and insurrectionist, ample video from the hallway where she was shot proves she tried to stop the violence that erupted.

Babbitt shouted at three Capitol Police officers standing outside the Speaker’s Lobby entrance to “call f**king help” as rioter Zachary Alam bashed out the windows leading into the Speaker’s Lobby.

Babbitt eventually put a stop to Alam’s rioting when she planted a left hook on his nose and knocked off his glasses. Seconds later, she tried to climb out a broken window just behind Alam and was immediately shot by Byrd.

Trump’s investigation into the Babbitt shooting will undoubtedly uncover video showing that Byrd didn’t follow through on the shooting by advancing on Babbitt’s position after she fell to determine whether she was an active threat. He fired from a hidden position into a crowd of dozens of people, including seven Capitol Police officers.

Byrd retreated into the seating area of Speaker’s Lobby and within a minute made a false broadcast on police radio claiming that he was under fire and was “prepared to fire back.”

“We got shots fired in the lobby. We got fot [sic], shots fired in the lobby of the House chamber,” Byrd said on Capitol Police radio. “Shots are being fired at us, and we’re prepared to fire back at them. We have guns drawn.”

Ashli Babbitt punches rioter Zachary Jordan Alam in the nose after he smashed out several windows in the entrance to the Speaker's Lobby at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Babbitt was fatally shot seconds later. Blaze News graphic from Sam Montoya photograph. Used with permission.

Aaron Babbitt’s lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch Inc. said that false broadcast delayed medical aid from reaching Ashli Babbitt and created a dangerous situation because incoming officers had no reason to believe this wasn’t still an active-shooter scenario.

“The facts speak truth. Ashli was ambushed when she was shot by Lt. Byrd,” the lawsuit said. “Multiple witnesses at the scene yelled, ‘You just murdered her.’ … Lt. Byrd was never charged or otherwise punished or disciplined for Ashli’s homicide.”

After Judicial Watch filed suit in San Diego, where Ashli Babbitt had lived, the DOJ sought and won a judge’s approval to transfer the case to the District of Columbia federal district court. Judicial Watch is attempting to get the case moved back to San Diego. The decision to move the case to D.C. was issued by a judge before Judicial Watch even had a chance to file opposition. A trial in the Babbitt case is set for July 2026.

President Trump will also likely learn about suspicious individuals in the crowd where Babbitt was shot who have still not been identified 50 months after the shooting. Two of the most prominent have been dubbed “Frick and Frack,” who were escorted out of the Capitol and secretly met with Capitol Police near the edge of Capitol property.

President Trump said his decision to issue pardons to more than 1,500 former Jan. 6 defendants was in large part due to the unfair treatment they received from the DOJ and federal courts.

“They were treated so unfairly, so horribly,” Trump said. “Some of them didn’t even go into the building, and the judges, the system, the hatred, the vitriol, the prosecutors — the way they wanted to just destroy these people.”

Trump described how many defendants went into court in hopes of defending themselves, only to emerge “devastated the way they were treated. Devastated, given years in prison.

“I took care of them,” the president said. “I said that I was going to, and I did.”

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House Freedom Caucus to censure Al Green following Trump speech meltdown



The House Freedom Caucus wasted no time in censuring Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas on Wednesday after he repeatedly interrupted President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of congress Tuesday night.

Just minutes into Trump's historic address, Green stood up and waved his cane from the House floor, shouting, "You have no mandate!" After he ignored a warning from Speaker Mike Johnson, the sergeant at arms removed Green from the House chamber.

'Democrats are clearly still coping with the fact that their policies don’t work and the American people don’t trust them anymore.'

"The President's address to tonight’s joint session of Congress is a constitutional obligation — not a sideshow for Democrats to use noisemakers, make threats, throw things or otherwise disrupt," HFC said in a statement ahead of the address.

Speaker Johnson directs the Sergeant-at-Arms to restore order and remove Democrat Rep. Al Green from the chamber: pic.twitter.com/Lx6pvCMYOR
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) March 5, 2025

"Our colleagues are on notice that the heckler's veto will not be tolerated," the statement continued. "You will be censured. We expect the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police to take appropriate action against any Members of Congress or other persons violating House rules.”

The following morning, HFC confirmed that it will introduce a resolution to censure Green following his stunt.

"Rep. Al Green should be censured for his childish behavior on the House floor last night," Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, a HFC member, said Wednesday. "Democrats are clearly still coping with the fact that their policies don’t work and the American people don’t trust them anymore. HFC members are drafting a censure resolution."

Other Republicans have also drafted their own resolutions to censure Green, including Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas and Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington.

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Watch: Alex Stein BRUTALLY TROLLS Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw — ‘Such a little loser!’



Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R), who is currently under fire for apparently threatening to kill Tucker Carlson, was recently paid a visit by BlazeTV host and king of trolls Alex Stein.

Crenshaw, or “Eye-Patch McCain,” as Tucker likes to call him, was none too pleased with Alex’s public confrontation. His reaction to being called out on his globalist agenda, weak conservative values, and uniparty politics can only be described as unhinged.

“Dan, you’re just such a little loser,” said Alex, following Crenshaw down the street.

Crenshaw then lunged forward to slap the camera.

“Look, you’re too slow!” laughed Alex, before making fun of Crenshaw for being smaller than him.

“You’re a sad little boy,” Alex said.

A heated exchange then commenced in which Alex accused Crenshaw of “giving more money to Ukraine” when “we have so many issues here in America,” especially “an invasion at our border.”

“You’re disgusting!” said a ruffled Crenshaw.

“He cares more about Ukraine than he does about America, so you're a globalist. Why don't you take care of America? You don't care. That's your problem, Dan — you don't care about America; you don't care about Texas,” Alex fired back, continuing to follow Crenshaw down the street.

“You’re a globalist; you’re a traitor; you’re a dwarf,” Alex said, when Crenshaw refused to address any of the legitimate issues he brought up.

And that’s when the Capitol Police stepped in.

To see the footage, watch the clip above.

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Jan. 6 case dismissed 40 days after judge found Luke Coffee guilty of 'assault' on Officer Lila Morris



Texas filmmaker Luke Coffee took a direct blow to the left arm from Metropolitan Police Department Officer Lila Morris on Jan. 6, 2021, yet it was Coffee who was found guilty of assaulting the notorious D.C. officer who seconds later savagely beat Rosanne Boyland with a hardened walking stick, multiple videos viewed by Blaze News showed.

Forty days later, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered the case dismissed with prejudice on a motion from the U.S. Department of Justice — now controlled by President Donald J. Trump — drafted by acting U.S. Attorney Edward Martin.

“This journey has been about so much more than ourselves,” Coffee told Blaze News after his case was dismissed. “It has been about standing firm for truth, even when the odds seemed insurmountable. It has been about shining a light on the humanity and dignity of the 1,500-plus J6ers who have endured unimaginable struggles.

“For four years, our lives were turned upside down, and yet, through it all, God has been working — restoring, redeeming, and preparing us for this very moment.”

'Luke Coffee might be dead today, but by the grace of God he was pulled to safety.'

Hero or perpetrator?

At a Dec. 13 hearing to announce the verdicts in Coffee’s bench trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mindy Deranek lionized Morris as a “hero,” a “victim,” and a “valued member of the community” who was honored by the U.S. government for her Jan. 6 actions.

Deranek claimed that Boyland died of an “overdose.”

She failed to mention that the medical examiner’s cause of death — acute amphetamine intoxication from a legal Adderall prescription for ADHD — is hotly contested by the Boyland family. The Boylands’ forensic pathologist ruled that the death was caused by compression asphyxiation and said the amphetamine salts in her system from the prescription medication did not cause her death.

Three hundred twenty-four days after his bench trial before Judge Contreras ended, Coffee was found guilty of civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; trespassing with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Coffee, 45, of Dallas, was found not guilty of disorderly conduct in a capitol building. Two other charges had been previously dropped by prosecutors.

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Lila Morris winds up with a wooden walking stick to strike protester Luke Coffee and a lifeless Rosanne Boyland outside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. Department of Justice/Metropolitan Police Department body cam

One of Coffee’s defense attorneys, Carolyn Stewart, said the DOJ moved to have Coffee immediately taken into custody Dec. 13, but Judge Contreras refused.

“The vindictive AUSA Deranek said she wanted to ‘put lies to bed’ while instead further defaming and lying about Lila Morris’ illegal use of lethal force against Boyland and Coffee,” Stewart told Blaze News. “Appallingly, she said the dishonorable Morris was a ‘hero’ who was ‘honored by the government’ for her heroic fighting.

“I felt like vomiting at the lies that the murderer Morris is being called a hero,” Stewart said.

Morris was one of three MPD officers feted as Jan. 6 heroes by the National Football League at Super Bowl LV in Tampa — along with Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges.

“Yes, the lying, unscrupulous DOJ calls the cowardly murder of the woman driven to unconsciousness by the MPD’s illegitimate use of OC [pepper] spray and tear gas in a confined space with no escape route — where the MPD caused a stampede and Morris then beat the unconscious Rosanne — as ‘heroic,’” Stewart said.

Morris and the officers who employed gas in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel about 4:20 p.m. should be tried for murder in Boyland’s death, Stewart said.

“Luke Coffee might be dead today, but by the grace of God he was pulled to safety after being sprayed into unconsciousness by murderers,” she said.

'Stacked two-three deep'

Nearly four years later, Boyland’s death still looms over Jan. 6 like a storm cloud.

She had just wandered into the tunnel at 4:18 p.m. when police released a gas that bystanders said sucked the oxygen out of the air. An officer just inside the doors at the back of the tunnel started firing high-velocity projectiles, including pepper balls — one of which struck Boyland and caused her to fall, witnesses and her parents have said.

The panic from the gas and an aggressive push-out by police with shields caused protesters to spill from the tunnel like a waterfall, with many tumbling down the concrete steps, only to be crushed by layers of bodies, video shows.

“I put my arm underneath her and was pulling her out, and then another guy fell on top of her, and another guy was just walking [on top of her],” Boyland’s friend Justin Winchell told an Atlanta television station in 2021. “There were people stacked two-three deep … people just crushed.”

Capitol Police security video and open-source video from those who surrounded the mouth of the tunnel showed that Coffee stepped front and center and implored police to stop. He had earlier faced the crowd and repeatedly implored them to “Stop!” and “Pray!”

Luke Coffee was repeatedly doused with pepper spray by police outside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Capitol Police CCTV/Blaze News Graphic

Coffee was targeted with heavy streams of pepper spray at least eight times, according to defense attorneys Stewart and Anthony Sabatini.

Morris, who had worked her way to the front of the tunnel and was crouched behind a bystander trying to escape, picked a wooden walking stick from the ground and used it as a weapon rather than employ her department-issued riot stick, video showed.

Morris used a two-handed overhead swing — a defense attorney described the swing “as if using an axe” — to strike Coffee in the left elbow with the walking stick, video showed. She swung at Coffee again but missed.

Then, inexplicably, Morris turned her fury on the lifeless Boyland, who was turning purple from hypoxia. With a two-handed overhead swing, Morris delivered three blows to Boyland’s body in quick succession, striking her head, face, and ribs, video showed.

The beating was so furious that the walking stick flew out of Morris’ hands during the fourth swing, bounced off the top of the archway, and see-sawed onto the ground six feet away.

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Lila Morris strikes protester Luke Coffee at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Video shows Morris then used the wooden walking stick to attack unconscious protester Rosanne Boyland.Metropolitan Police Department: Officer Lila Morris body cam

During cross-examination at Coffee’s trial, Morris said Coffee did not assault her. She said she was trying to defend herself against a man behind Coffee and to his left who wielded a “long stick.”

“Did the man in the center with the cowboy hat ever strike you?” defense attorney Stewart asked.

“Not that I recall,” Morris replied.

Stewart asked the officer how she was trained to use a riot stick.

'I can make sure she is never forgotten.'

“Are you ever trained to hold it like a bat and strike it over somebody's head?” Stewart asked.

“No,” Morris answered.

After she lost the walking stick, Morris turned her back on the crowd and was shortly pulled inside by other MPD officers, video showed. She was carried, kicking and flailing, into the Capitol basement hallway, saying, “I can’t breathe!” bodycam video and Capitol CCTV recordings showed.

Morris was approached by MPD Officer Anthony Walsh, who said, “Take a minute to catch your breath. … Were you pulled out into the crowd?”

“I was in the front. They were pulling me, but they kept jabbing my face with something, hit me, and I couldn’t … I lost my breath and couldn’t breathe,” Morris said just prior to 4:34 p.m., according to Walsh’s bodycam video.

Video showed that no one attempted to pull Morris into the crowd, but a man wearing orange ski goggles repeatedly attempted to smack her with what appeared to be a long wooden dowel. One of the thrusts struck Morris in the face shield, video showed.

Protester Luke Coffee of Dallas holds up a crutch in what he says was an attempt to create a separation between police and the crowd outside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. Capitol Police CCTV

Coffee twice held up his hand in a “stop” gesture. Coffee picked up a 1.6-pound aluminum crutch and held it over his head. He said it was an effort to make himself as large as possible to be a barrier between police and the crowd.

Security video showed Coffee held the crutch over his head for nine seconds before lowering it to waist level and pushing into the police line like a snowplow. He drove the entire line of officers back and stayed pressed against the front line for 20 seconds, according to prosecutors. After he slipped and fell, Coffee “charged” the line a second time, the DOJ argued.

The body cam of MPD Officer Steven Sajumon shows that once Coffee got back on his feet, he took what appeared to be two quick steps toward Sajumon with the crutch held in front. Coffee said he was blind from being doused with pepper spray. The officer put his right hand on Coffee’s head, pushed him back, and said, “We’re good.”

Coffee said he then tried to switch the crutch into his left hand. Prosecutors claimed it was a “swing” at Sajumon that constituted assault. The officer’s body cam shows his right hand on the tip of the crutch when he said, “We’re good, we’re good.” Judge Contreras found the interaction constituted felony assault by Coffee.

Coffee told Blaze News that Officer Sajumon snapped him out of fight-or-flight mode when he patted him on the head and said, “We’re good.” Coffee then stumbled away, collapsed, and fell unconscious to the ground.

Aaron James and Isaac Westbury help Luke Coffee of Dallas after Coffee fell inside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A short time later, Coffee collapsed and was dragged down the stairs.Metropolitan Police Department body cam

Bodycam video shows Coffee in a supine position being dragged down the steps from the tunnel at 4:29 p.m. Coffee said he was unconscious during this time, until bystanders helped to revive him.

Lindsey Graham, a social media influencer who is known as the Patriot Barbie, testified in Coffee’s trial that when she encountered Coffee at the bottom of the steps, his eyes were swollen shut and he was in serious pain.

“He appeared to me somewhere within a few feet of me, with his face kind of red and swollen and his eyes closed, and he looked in need of help,” Graham said, according to the court transcript. “… What made me notice him was that he looked like he was in distress. He was sweating and crying, and his eyes were closed and his face was red and inflamed.”

Graham said she found bottled water that Coffee used to rinse his eyes, but that didn’t bring relief. Blake McAlavy offered Coffee a bottle of thick green juice to use as a rinse, she said.

“Blake had some kind of green juice in his pocket that he had brought, and he gave Luke some green juice, hoping to help him as well.”

Coffee never struck Officer Morris

Officer Morris testified that Coffee did not touch her with the aluminum crutch, but she felt squeezed in the crowd of officers and had trouble breathing.

At trial, defense attorney Stewart asked, “So the crutch does not hit you?”

“No, it doesn’t hit me,” Morris said.

“Okay,” Stewart replied. “I wanted to check here, because we’re, we’re charged with contact assault.”

At the Dec. 13, 2024, verdict reading, Judge Contreras found Coffee guilty of seven counts, including felony assault on two police officers with the aluminum crutch he picked up off the ground. He found Coffee not guilty on one misdemeanor charge.

'Let’s put these lies to rest right now.'

Judge Contreras ruled that the aluminum crutch qualified as a dangerous weapon and asserted that it was Coffee’s intent to injure officers by pressing them back with the crutch.

Contreras said he did not believe Coffee acted out of concern for Boyland, and he claimed Coffee did not help Boyland get moved to safety after she was struck by Officer Morris.

“Other rioters moved Ms. Boyland out of the tunnel area seconds before Mr. Coffee charged the officers in the tunnel,” Contreras said, “thus highlighting that his attack on the officers in the tunnel was not reasonable or necessary with respect to defending Ms. Boyland, who, by that time, was out of the tunnel and off to the side, well out of harm’s way.”

Luke Coffee holds up a crutch to create separation between police and protesters while bystanders pulled an unconscious Rosanne Boyland to safety outside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Metropolitan Police Department body cam

Video shows, however, that bystanders who rescued Boyland after the beating by Morris pulled her to safety simultaneously to Coffee raising the crutch over his head.

The judge did not mention the beating that Morris doled out to the dying Boyland.

Judge Contreras allowed prosecutor Deranek to put her arguments into the record as to why Coffee should be jailed.

Deranek ripped Coffee and social media commentators for claiming Morris caused Boyland’s death. Deranek contended that online discussion of Morris’ actions made the officer a victim again, in addition to Coffee’s alleged assault on her.

“Let’s put these lies to rest right now,” Deranek said, according to the trial transcript. “Officer Morris had nothing to do with Roseanne [sic] Boyland’s death. Roseanne Boyland was not killed by Officer Morris or any of the other officers defending the Capitol that day. She died of a tragic overdose.”

Deranek then blamed Coffee for the fact that police did not render aid to Boyland. Relying on a New York Times video analysis, Deranek said, “It was in fact the defendant’s actions that prevented the officers from rendering her aid as she lay dying.”

The only contact any police officer had with Boyland before she was pulled into the Capitol was Morris and the wooden walking stick she used to strike the unconscious Boyland in the head, face, and ribs, video showed.

Luke Coffee rinses out his eyes after being doused with pepper spray by police in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Coffee said even though he wore sunglasses, his eyes and the skin around them sustained especially painful burns.Photos by Blake McAlavy (1986-2022)

Bodycam video, CCTV, and video from media and bystanders showed that no police officers moved to aid Boyland that afternoon, even when bystanders begged and pleaded and said Boyland was dying. Officers pushed more people from the tunnel on top of Boyland, who was crushed under the pileup, bodycam video showed.

Sheriff’s deputy Ronald Colton McAbee repeatedly pointed at Boyland when he stepped in front of the police line just before Coffee arrived.

“Quit f**king trying to kill that girl!” McAbee shouted at officers, according to MPD bodycam video. “F**king stop!”

The same argument used on Coffee was made against McAbee: that he prevented police from helping Boyland. Video from police body cameras, Capitol Police CCTV, and bystanders showed, however, that McAbee repeatedly tried to get officers to help Boyland, who lay a few feet from police.

The DOJ contention only added to the pain McAbee still experiences over Boyland’s death.

“Her name will live on as long as there is breath in my lungs,” McAbee wrote to Boyland’s parents just after his trial. “There will be justice for her. I couldn’t bring her back, but I can make sure she is never forgotten.”

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Trump confirms inauguration will take place indoors



President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20 will be moved indoors due to weather conditions, according to a Friday announcement on Truth Social.

Trump's swearing-in ceremony, as well as all other inaugural addresses and speeches, will instead take place inside the Capitol rotunda on Monday.

'Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

"It is my obligation to protect the People of our Country but, before we even begin, we have to think of the Inauguration itself," Trump said. "The weather forecast in Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows. There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don't want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way."

The last president to be sworn in indoors was Ronald Reagan in 1985 due to severe temperatures. Reagan similarly took his oath of office inside the Capitol rotunda, and the inaugural parade was canceled.

"Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather," Trump added. "The various Dignitaries and Guests will be brought into the Capitol. This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!"

Trump also announced that the Capital One Arena, the venue for his victory rally on Sunday, will be opened on Monday for a live viewing of the inauguration and to host the presidential parade. Following his swearing in, Trump will join the crowd at Capital One.

"Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump said.

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Blaze News original: Christian fighting for free speech scores major victory, displays Nativity scene on US Capitol steps



A former pastor who has been fighting against restrictions on First Amendment freedoms scored a major legal victory earlier this year, prompting him to set up a Nativity scene on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building, a peaceful demonstration that would have gotten him arrested just a few short months ago, he told Blaze News.

At noon on December 10, Rev. Patrick Mahoney — a reformed Presbyterian minister who has spent the last 32 years as the director the Christian Defense Coalition based in Washington, D.C. — brought statues representing baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and even a few animals and arranged them on the southeastern steps of the U.S. Capitol, the area K-LOVE described as "the House of Representatives side."

Then Mahoney; his wife of 51 years, Katie; and only three other guests were then able to gather round, read some scripture verses, and sing Christmas carols without fear of reprisal from law enforcement. The event lasted for about an hour.

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According to Mahoney, this Nativity scene was a historic moment as it marked the first time ever that a Nativity scene was put on display on the steps of the Capitol.

"We read the Christmas story. We prayed for our country. We stressed how important the message of hope and peace that Jesus brought ... through his birth was open to all humanity," Mahoney told Blaze News. "We prayed for our government. We prayed for the new incoming government."

"So we celebrated the birth of Christ as the most significant moment in world history," he continued.

"We rejoiced in that."

The fight for the First Amendment

In the land of the free and the home of the brave, where freedoms regarding speech and religious expressions are enshrined into the Constitution, such peaceful events held in our nation's capital should hardly be remarkable. But Rev. Mahoney knows better, understanding that such liberties have been readily sacrificed in recent years in the name of safety and security.

The first major event that curtailed civil liberties in D.C. was 9/11. Shortly after the attacks, which included a deadly attack on the nearby Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol Police decided to prevent Americans from demonstrating at the Capitol building, according to Eric Sell, an attorney with the Center for American Liberty, which represents Mahoney.

"It's roughly 250 feet circle all around the Capitol building, which includes the eastern steps, and it's totally off limits to demonstration activity," Sell explained to Blaze News.

'No person or group of any size may engage in demonstration activity on the steps of the United States Capitol.'

For more than two decades, Capitol Police did not change that policy. In fact, they worked to enhance restrictions even further after January 6, 2021.

Mahoney learned firsthand just how strictly those enhanced restrictions were enforced. In April 2021, just a few short months after the riot at the Capitol, Mahoney tried to host a prayer vigil on Good Friday as he had in previous years — and was soon arrested.

Photo shared with Blaze News. Used with permission

Mahoney was charged with unlawful assembly and later paid an estimated fine of $125. The heightened security restrictions on the steps at the Capitol building remained in place though, effectively prohibiting regular Americans from speaking openly outside a government building they paid for with their taxes.

"It had just been members of Congress who were able to use the Capitol steps virtually whenever they wanted to," Sell said. "And what they would do is they would often invite their allies up there with them."

"But members of the public couldn't do that," Sell added.

Traffic Regulations released by the Capitol Police Board in January 2024 reiterated the restrictions regarding the Capitol steps:

"No person or group of any size may engage in demonstration activity on the steps of the United States Capitol, on the steps of any building on Capitol Grounds or in any area otherwise closed or restricted for official use."

Mahoney refused to accept the ongoing suspension of American civil liberties and sued the Capitol Police Board to end the restrictions. The process to end the regulations was long but quite successful.

"After 18 months, we secured the right back to peaceful demonstrations, back to free speech activities, our Good Friday services," he told Blaze News, "but there was one area that still we were seeking free speech rights on, and that were the Capitol steps."

Mahoney's determination to reclaim that critically important public area eventually paid off earlier this year. In May, James Boasberg, the chief judge of the D.C. District Court who was appointed by Obama, ruled that "the ban on all non-sponsored speech on the eastern steps" of the U.S. Capitol was "unconstitutional."

Sell told Blaze News that this decision formally classified the eastern steps of the Capitol as "a traditional public forum" where First Amendment rights are strongly protected.

"It's much harder for the government to prohibit speech that's in a traditional public forum," Sell explained. "And having the Capitol steps be determined by a federal court to be a traditional public forum is an incredible victory for free speech because that means people are allowed to go there and express their messages."

While Capitol Police and other government officials "can still require permits and have other kind of regulations," Sell continued, they can no longer "prohibit speech there outright like they have been doing since 2001."

Mahoney said that the Capitol steps are "the people's house" and that the people, not just congressmen and their "lobbyist" friends, have a right to express themselves and their religious beliefs there without fear.

"It doesn't belong to an elite group of the political class, but every citizen, whatever their views or values are, should have the right to freely go to the United States Capitol and air them."

The Capitol Police Board did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

A 'decisive legal victory' — and yet ...

Shortly after Judge Boasberg issued the ruling, Rev. Mahoney knew how he would would celebrate it: by hosting a Christmas celebration in December complete with a Nativity scene and carol-singing. Mahoney indicated to Blaze News that the eastern steps were ground zero for "the war on Christmas."

"Having this event on the steps of the Capitol — the most powerful public forum, the most powerful public place in the world — if we can come and worship freely there and celebrate Christmas there and express our religious freedoms there, then we've won the war on Christmas and the war on Christmas is over," he said.

Other Christians and Christian organizations view the ruling and the Nativity scene at the Capitol building similarly.

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, director of the Conscience Project, told Blaze News:

The Nativity display set up on the steps of the US Capitol building by the Christian Defense Coalition — a group of private citizens — is a wonderful expression of the freedoms all Americans enjoy. Peaceful demonstrations in places traditionally considered public forums don’t lack their protection under the Constitution because they have a religious character. All defenders of treasured American freedoms, whether they are Christian or not, should celebrate that this one battle in the “War on Christmas” has been won.

In a statement to Blaze News, Erika Ahern, associate editor for CatholicVote and the LOOP, said:

In this historic first, we see a sign of Christmas joy and hope for our great nation. Public displays of the Nativity of Jesus acknowledge the central role of religion in American history, as well as the reality that the majority of Americans honor Christ at Christmas. Much is made of our political divisions, but the display of the Holy Family is a sign that America is healing.

Sell likewise described the ruling as "incredible" and as a "decisive legal victory."

'If we did this eight months ago or last Christmastime, we would have been arrested.'

Unfortunately, the ruling still has one major restriction attached to it. Even though Judge Boasberg found that forbidding free speech on the eastern steps was "unconstitutional," he nevertheless agreed to severely limit the number of people who can exercise their First Amendment rights there, at least for the time being.

In fact, only Mahoney and four of his friends are permitted to participate until the new administration is inaugurated next month.

"The government had asked the district court to stay the injunction with respect to everyone except for Patrick Mahoney," Sell told Blaze News. "[The judge] was concerned that the government raised legitimate concerns about safety from the election until the inauguration."

Though only five total people could officially participate in the Christmas event, plenty of tourists enjoyed it so much that they stopped to take selfies with Mahoney, his wife, and the Nativity figures.

"People loved it," Mahoney said with pride. "They really rejoiced in it."

Photo shared with Blaze News. Used with permission.

Sell described the temporary restriction as "ridiculous" and noted that even the American Civil Liberties Union was incensed about it and wanted to get involved.

"We've had some conversations with the D.C. chapter of the ACLU," Sell said. "They are interested in this case. They support Reverend Mahoney, and they support the public's right to speak on the Capitol steps. It sounds like they may submit an amicus brief in support of us on appeal."

Though Mahoney said he does not often see eye to eye with the ACLU, he appreciates the organization's willingness to stand with him in the fight for free speech. Sell indicated that an amicus brief from the organization could influence the courts.

"Having them file a brief in support we think helps because it shows that this isn't something that's confined to the ideological right or the ideological left," Sell said. "People across the spectrum believe in free speech in this country, and the fact that you have the ACLU coming in and filing a brief shows that this is about free speech. It's not about right-wing or left-wing ideology."

The ACLU did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

For now, Mahoney is just grateful that a federal judge, an Obama appointee no less, sided in favor of the First Amendment.

"If we did this eight months ago or last Christmastime, we would have been arrested," he said.

Despite the progress, Mahoney warns Christians and all Americans of good will not to become complacent about their civil liberties.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," Mahoney said, quoting an inscription on a sculpture at the National Archives in D.C. "And I think particularly the faith community needs to take that to heart, that we must continually speak out and fight to ensure that every American is free to express their religious views and beliefs and values in the public square, how they raise their children, how they conduct their lives, without government harassment or opposition."

He also indicated to Blaze News that he is optimistic that the First Amendment is in better hands with President-elect Donald Trump than it would have been under Vice President Kamala Harris, who he suggested has "animus and hostility toward people of faith."

"I think one of the key undercurrents, like in the election, obviously immigration, crime, the economy were key issues," Mahoney said. "But I think bubbling under that for the 80% of evangelicals who voted for President Trump was the sense that our religious freedoms would be protected."

"One of the most dangerous things in America is when our federal law enforcement is turned against their own citizens, especially people of faith," he added, referencing the peaceful pro-life protesters jailed under the Biden-Harris administration.

"It's dangerous."

H/T: The Patrick Madrid Show

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After Winning At The Supreme Court, J6 Defendant Joe Fischer Is Still Fighting To Get His Life Back

If Donald Trump pardons people involved in the J6 chaos in Washington, D.C., it will end years of heartache.

Exclusive: Officer who killed Ashli Babbitt abandoned US Capitol post for card game, lied to investigators about it, source says



The U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was recommended for termination in 2001 for abandoning his post in the Speaker’s Office for a card game in a nearby cloakroom, then lying about it to Internal Affairs Division investigators, Blaze News has learned.

The 2001 investigation of Michael L. Byrd, 56, was the first known disciplinary case brought against the lieutenant who crept from his blind near the doors to the Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021, and shot Babbitt to death. The 2001 incident is the fourth such disciplinary case disclosed since Nov. 20.

A source with detailed knowledge of the Internal Affairs Division case told Blaze News that Byrd was charged with abandoning his post, eating and drinking at his post, and lying to investigators — a terminable offense. It is one of three Byrd disciplinary cases for which records could not be found when a House oversight subcommittee requested them in early 2024, the source said.

Byrd was assigned to the Speaker’s Office of U.S. Rep. Denny Hastert (R-Ill.) on the evening in question. During his break, Byrd went to play cards in a cloak room near the House Chamber, the source said.

'He ends up getting into some trouble, but they won't terminate him.'

Byrd went to relieve the officer who covered Hastert’s office during Byrd’s break, but then abandoned his post and returned to the cloakroom to play cards, the source told Blaze News.

“Well, the sergeant walks by and was like, ‘Man, there’s nobody in the Speaker’s Office,’” said the source, who has worked in the top levels of U.S. Capitol Police administration. “This is a big issue.”

An internal investigation was opened.

“Of course, we have cameras everywhere and we track him walking off post, going back to the cloakroom,” the source said. “And we talked to the other people in there and he was in there playing cards.”

Investigators also found that Byrd was eating and drinking at his post in the Speaker’s Office, activities forbidden by department policy, the source said.

“Supposed to be a bit of the decorum there, but he’s sitting in a chair eating and drinking a soda, which is a big taboo, especially back then,” the source said. “It’s the Speaker’s Office.”

Investigators confronted Byrd with their findings. He denied it all.

“Mike denies that he was supposed to be assigned to the post,” the source told Blaze News. “So therefore he couldn’t abandon the post. He denied eating and denied drinking on the post.”

Investigators already had the evidence they needed, but they gave Byrd a chance to come clean, the source said.

“They told him — and this is what we do when we’re getting ready to charge somebody — ‘We know different, Mike. There are video cameras up there.’ Mike still denies it.”

Then-Lt. Michael L. Byrd shot Ashli Elizabeth Babbitt at 2:44 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, just as she leaned out a broken window into the House Speaker’s Lobby. As Byrd’s disciplinary record is being revealed in 2024, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she wants Byrd charged with homicide.Photos by John Sullivan (left) and Aaron Babbitt

The USCP disciplinary officer recommended that Byrd be fired.

“So they charge him with eating, drinking on post, abandoning post,” the source said. “They charge him with untruthful statements with the recommendation to terminate.”

Even with the evidence and firing recommendation, Capitol Police administration did not part ways with Byrd.

“He ends up getting into some trouble, but they won’t terminate him,” the source said. “So therefore they didn’t want to move forward with the untruthful statements [charge], but that was still a sustained charge against him.”

The source questioned how records of the 2001 case and two other disciplinary cases brought against Byrd could be “missing,” as congressional investigators were told by the USCP in early 2024. There are too many intersecting emails and memos outside Byrd’s internal-affairs jacket for the record to be fully missing, the source said.

“That would’ve been documented so many different ways that it’d be impossible for them not to have it,” the source said.

“It’s funny to me that everyone knows Mike’s a liar and the case that sustains it that had all the evidence that shows he is a liar is something that Tad [DiBiase] and the department can’t find when there’s all these different records. If they just did a search on the emails, all this stuff, it would be in existence.”

Thomas A. “Tad” DiBiase is general counsel for U.S. Capitol Police.

Blaze News reached out to the Capitol Police and an attorney for Byrd but did not receive a reply by press time.

Concerns about promotion

As more details of Byrd’s work history emerge, a key Republican lawmaker expressed reservations about Byrd’s 2023 promotion to captain.

“I have concerns about this decision, given Byrd’s lengthy disciplinary history and the apparent political influence of internal operational decisions related to Byrd following January 6, 2021,” U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) wrote in a Nov. 20 letter to Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.

Revelation of Byrd’s 2001 disciplinary case comes as congressional investigators disclosed the lengths Democrat lawmakers and Capitol Police went to after Jan. 6 to provide Byrd with income, security upgrades at his Maryland home, and months of free lodging at a secure military hotel at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Md.

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), shown here at a GOP leadership press event in Washington, D.C., Dec. 4, 2024, recently disclosed that several disciplinary cases had been filed over 20 years against Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police lieutenant who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Photo by NathanPosner/Anadolu via Getty Images

Records obtained by the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight showed top House Democrats worked with DiBiase to find ways to help Byrd financially in the months after he shot and killed Babbitt at the Capitol. The records were first disclosed by journalist John Solomon and Just the News.

Byrd was given $36,000 in unrestricted funds as a “retention bonus” in 2021, while other Capitol Police officers received around $3,000 each. Byrd was reimbursed for more than $21,000 in security upgrades for his personal residence in Prince George’s County.

Capitol Police paid to house Byrd at the Joint Base Andrews military facility from July 2021 until late January 2022 at a cost of more than $35,000, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch Inc. When he left the base for any reason, Byrd was provided with a Capitol Police dignitary protection detail, which a source told Blaze News could easily cost $425 per hour.

'This is really bad for you all to do this when you know we’re expecting to have funds soon.'

DiBiase met with Jamie Fleet, staff director for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), to discuss options to help Byrd, according to an email uncovered by congressional investigators. Pelosi had earlier said that she wanted Byrd “taken care of,” said a Blaze News source who directly witnessed the statement during a meeting.

DiBiase suggested that they could place Byrd at one of the department’s “continuity sites,” but that would require a top-secret clearance. Continuity sites are maintained to ensure that Capitol Police could continue to operate and communicate in the event of a catastrophe in Washington, D.C.

“We believe it would be very difficult for him to obtain one, give that he has had significant financial issues in the past and is currently on the USCP Lewis List,” DiBiase wrote.

The Lewis List is a confidential database of police officers who have disciplinary records and could face added scrutiny if they were called as witnesses in criminal cases.

Capitol Police considered assigning Byrd as head of security at the USCP Alternate Communications Facility, which is located outside the capital region. Under such a plan, Byrd could be awarded a per-diem payment for expenses. Sources told Blaze News that other Capitol Police officers assigned to the ACF have not been given per-diem payments.

Avoid fitness-for-duty test

DiBiase wrote that the USCP could help Byrd obtain mental health assistance, “but not move forward on a FFDE [fitness for duty evaluation] since a negative one could mean we should not allow him to carry our USCP-issued firearm if he is not fit to be a police officer.

“We believe it is more important for him to have his weapon and the ability to defend himself,” DiBiase wrote. “We have no indication Mike intends to harm himself and he has access to personal weapons, so even if we were to remove his weapon, there would still be some danger.”

According to Loudermilk’s Nov. 20 letter, the Capitol Police had planned to loan a shotgun to Byrd, but he failed the federal background check and did not qualify after shotgun training.

There was an early plan to provide Byrd with a payment from the Capitol Police Officers Memorial Fund, which was founded to honor fallen officers and support their survivors. Byrd expressed frustration that the fund was being opened to officers who were injured on Jan. 6.

“What you proposed could take months,” Byrd wrote in an email to DiBiase at 8:47 p.m. Nov. 16, 2021. “Our expectation was that this would be done soon. Now you’re telling me we got to wait for the rest of the department to even file claims, get evaluated and go through the process we have endured for months.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she hopes incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi files murder charges against Capitol Police Capt. Michael Byrd, who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt outside the Speaker's Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

“That is blatantly wrong to treat us like this,” Byrd wrote. “This was never proposed to us in this manner. Now we’re being grouped in with everyone else. Wow! This is really bad for you all to do this when you know we’re expecting to have funds soon. So disappointing!”

In a reply email one minute later, DiBiase was taken aback by Byrd’s attitude.

“I’m sorry you are disappointed,” DiBiase wrote. “I find that surprising since we have already provided you $36,000 in unrestricted retention funds. You know what the rest of the department is receiving? $3,000 each. Yes, you are being lumped in with the other 91 officers who suffered injuries that day. The Memorial Fund is for the entire department, not one officer.”

Byrd shot back 20 minutes later, “We play the game as you request and then once we’re in compliance you guys change the rules on us. If we were aware that our situation would be looped in with everyone on the department then we would have been better prepared.

“We were expecting this was for us and everyone else has their own situation,” Byrd wrote.

As a postscript, Byrd added: “Just so you know, my wife is vividly upset and in tears because of this news. We have to wait additionally for the fund and can’t get approval to start the GoFundMe. Happy Holidays!”

Byrd’s weapon was pointed directly at the back of U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas).

Word of the proposal to give Byrd a potentially hefty payment from the memorial fund spread around the department, and officers were not happy, said Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the United States Capitol Police Labor Committee.

Papathanasiou said he expressed his opposition to the idea directly to acting Chief Yogananda Pittman. Rumors swirled around the department that Pittman wanted to give Byrd $400,000 from the memorial fund, he said.

“I brought it up in a formal meeting, and I had a couple of my board members with me,” Papathanasiou told Blaze News. “She looked at me like I had 10 heads. She wouldn’t agree or deny it that it happened or it was going to happen.

“Once we got wind of it and brought it to their attention, all of a sudden it kind of took them aback. They didn't expect it,” Papathanasiou said.

A GoFundMe account set up in November 2021 to benefit Byrd ended up raising $164,206 from 3,621 donors. One of the largest donations came from U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who chipped in $2,500. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a member of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, donated $200.

“A worthy cause, as this man has faced quite an onslaught of misinformation and extreme threats,” Kinzinger posted on Twitter Nov. 18, 2021.

Byrd was notified by DiBiase on July 15, 2022, that he would not receive any payments from the Officers Memorial Fund. In an email reply a few hours later, Byrd said: “I will address on my own. USCP will not look good as a result.”

The department also looked at whether it could provide funding to Byrd to cover closing costs on the sale/purchase of a new home, according to the July 2021 DiBiase email.

Earlier discipline cases revealed

In November 2024, Loudermilk’s subcommittee disclosed several other disciplinary cases brought against Byrd since 2004.

Those included charges that he fired a weapon at fleeing vehicles near his home and provided an “inaccurate” account to investigators, claiming the vehicles were coming at him and attempting to run him over.

The Capitol Police Internal Affairs Division determined that Byrd violated use of force and use of weapons policies by discharging his service weapon in a “careless and imprudent manner.” Byrd appealed the finding to the Disciplinary Review Board, which overruled the OPR findings.

Questions have been raised about Byrd’s handling of his service weapon on Jan. 6, besides the fatal shooting. A news photo distributed by Getty Images shows Capitol Police plainclothes agents with their guns pointed at the main House door after rioters in the hallway outside broke out some of the door’s frosted panes of glass. The agents had their fingers straight along the barrels, above the triggers of their weapons.

U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd appears to have his finger on the trigger of his service weapon while walking on the U.S. House floor as rioters broke windows at the House entrance at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Graphic overlay by Blaze News

Byrd walked down the row of seats nearest the door with his finger on the trigger of his Glock handgun, the photo showed. He carried the Glock in his right hand at hip level and a package or similar object in his left hand.

Law enforcement officers are trained to keep their fingers off the trigger until they intend to fire and not point a weapon at any target they don’t intend to shoot.

Byrd’s weapon was pointed directly at the back of U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who was defending the House entrance with a long wooden hand sanitizer stand. Four other plainclothes and uniformed police officers were in his vicinity at the time.

In 2015, Byrd was suspended without pay for seven days for an incident at a high school football game where Byrd berated an officer from the Montgomery County Police Department working security at the game, accusing him of being a “piece of sh*t” and a “racist a**hole.”

Byrd was suspended for 33 days without pay in 2019 for leaving his loaded service weapon in a bathroom in the Capitol Visitor Center. The gun was left unattended in the bathroom for some 55 minutes before it was discovered by another officer.

Byrd also has a long history of financial troubles, according to Maryland public records and federal court filings.

In August 2019, the federal government won a tax-lien judgment of $56,366 against Byrd in Prince George’s Circuit Court.

According to federal court records, Byrd filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on March 9, 2009, and the case was converted to Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2010. Creditors filed $1.27 million in claims against Byrd. The case was discharged for $14,563.

Byrd also filed for bankruptcy in April 1999, and the case was discharged in July 1999. Archived U.S. Bankruptcy Court records do not indicate the amount of debt discharged in the case.

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Dem staffer arrested by Capitol Police on firearm-related charges



Michael Hopkins, the communications director for Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, was arrested Monday morning by Capitol Police after he allegedly attempted to enter a House office building with ammunition and high-capacity magazines. Hopkins claimed he "forgot" the ammunition was in his bag.

Morelle's office initially confirmed the incident but did not publicly disclose the reason for the arrest or the identity of the staffer. Capitol Police later released a statement corroborating the incident and detailing the arrest.

'38-year-old Michael Hopkins was arrested, and he is facing charges for unlawful possession of ammunition, including one charge for possession of a high-capacity magazine.'

"This morning, our office was informed that a member of our staff was arrested by Capitol Police," Morelle's office said in a Monday statement. "We are currently gathering more information regarding the circumstances of the arrest."

"Our office is fully committed to cooperating with the investigation," the statement continued. "As Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, Congressman Morelle is devoted to ensuring a safe and secure workplace for all.”

Capitol Police revealed that Hopkins was arrested and is facing charges for unlawful possession of ammunition.

"At approximately 8:45 a.m., a House staffer entered the Cannon House Office Building and put his bag through screening," Capitol Police said in a statement. "USCP officers noticed what appeared to be ammunition on the X-ray screen."

"After a hand search of the bag, officers found four ammunition magazines and eleven rounds of ammunition," the statement continued. "The staffer told the officers that he forgot the ammunition was in the bag. 38-year-old Michael Hopkins was arrested, and he is facing charges for unlawful possession of ammunition, including one charge for possession of a high-capacity magazine."

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Exclusive: How the Capitol Police were set up to fail on January 6



As part of Blaze Media’s three-part mini-documentary series “A Day in the Life of Harry Dunn,” we continue to update readers on how we arrived at this point in our “Truth About January 6” series. You can find part one here.

Despite denials from the U.S. Capitol Police and some congressional investigators, evidence quickly emerged after the January 6, 2021, protests and riots that Capitol Police officers were intentionally under-deployed.

Testimonies from Capitol Police officers in various Jan. 6 trials, along with radio transmissions and whistleblower statements, have provided many answers. These findings also suggest a coordinated cover-up to keep this information from the American public.

If the Capitol Police had been fully deployed that day, the breach likely would not have occurred. Ashli Babbitt and Rosanne Boyland might still be alive, and the Department of Justice’s 1,500 prosecutions — ranging from trespassing to seditious conspiracy — might never have happened. Additionally, members of the Capitol Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police, and several convicted Jan. 6 participants might not have died by suicide in the aftermath.

Although I have long suspected that trained provocateurs manipulated the events of January 6 under the watch of the Capitol Police command center, many believe that frontline, uniformed Capitol Police officers were knowingly complicit and even initiated the violence. Video evidence contradicts that claim.

Here’s a sample of the social media comments that followed my initial blog series — written before my time at Blaze Media — in which I referred to the Capitol Police as “sacrificial pawns” on January 6:

“The Capitol Police were willing participants by following those D.C. fascists’ orders. I have no sympathy for them or their families.”

“Don’t sign up to collect a paycheck defending a corrupt government.”

“They’re a disgrace to the uniform and America. How f***ing dare they.”

“You’re being played.”

These comments came from the political right, but the left wasn’t silent either. Some were quite bloodthirsty, suggesting that every Capitol Police officer should have replicated Lt. Michael Byrd’s gunshot and left us with “a thousand more Ashli Babbitts.” Many who called for defunding the police after George Floyd’s death in 2020 suddenly became strong supporters of “Back the Blue” following the events of January 6, 2021.

In my January 6 writings, I’ve often stressed that I had to reassess some of my initial assumptions as more evidence surfaced. For example, in my first article about January 6, published on January 13, 2021, I misidentified the officers in “fluorescent-sleeved jackets racing down steps toward the first upper tier above street level” as Capitol Police. They were actually members of the D.C. Metropolitan Police.

This may seem like a minor distinction — especially to the “all cops are bastards” crowd — but these details are crucial as we work to uncover and present the full truth of that day. Most importantly, who in the command chain set up or allowed these events to unfold?

When it comes to the many unanswered questions, odd circumstances, and unindicted figures, we don’t need to agree on every detail. We also don’t need to agree on each event, video, or police officer’s actions to find common ground on one key point I’ve emphasized about January 6: I saw bad people doing bad things, good people doing good things, and even otherwise good people doing really stupid things.

This observation applies to both individual protesters and police officers. There were heroes and villains on both sides of that thin blue line on January 6.

My questions about the Capitol Police’s deployment, orders, and actions on January 6 began with my first published article. From the moment my Uber driver dropped me off at the Washington Monument around 9:30 a.m. until I reached the lower west terrace of the Capitol Building at exactly 1:19 p.m., neither I nor my camera saw a single law enforcement officer.

My video captured no police presence at the Washington Monument lawn on January 6.Screenshot/Steve Baker

As the crowd swelled from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, it was hard to imagine not seeing any police presence among such a massive group in the nation’s capital. Police and Secret Service officers heavily guarded the Ellipse stage, where President Trump was set to speak, but the crowd’s density kept me from entering that area. When I eventually started walking from the Washington Monument lawn toward the Capitol Building again, I still didn’t see or capture on camera a single police officer.

As I approached the Peace Monument, sirens signaled the arrival of D.C. Metro Police units. At the Reflecting Pool, I finally spotted Metro Police officers in fluorescent jackets streaming down the Capitol steps toward the lower west terrace.

I then heard the first flash-bang grenades and saw tear gas released on the lower west terrace. No barricades or police lines blocked my way — initial agitators and provocateurs had removed them about 20 to 25 minutes earlier — so I ran to the terrace and began recording the violence at exactly 1:19 p.m., just three minutes after President Trump left the Ellipse stage, more than a mile away.

A screenshot from my video as I approached the Capitol on January 6, 2021.Screenshot/Steve Baker

For a year, I publicly asked: "Why wasn’t there a police presence on the Washington Monument lawn? Why didn’t I see any police on the mile-long walk to the Capitol?" and "Why were so few Capitol Police officers on duty at the Capitol, considering the planned rallies, marches, and legally permitted events on the Capitol lawn that day?"

I initially estimated that fewer than 200 Capitol Police officers were at the Capitol on January 6. A year later, on the anniversary of the event, I returned to D.C. to seek answers. I asked patrolling Capitol Police officers those questions, and I also wanted to know what orders they received that day. I was particularly interested in what seemed like a "stand-down" or "pull-back" order at around 2:00 p.m.

None of the officers I approached on the streets or at the Capitol would answer. At the time, I didn’t know about the nondisclosure agreements Capitol Police had signed under Yogananda Pittman during her seven-month tenure as acting chief of police.

On December 16, 2021, Forbes made a convoluted attempt to answer the question about Capitol Police deployment on January 6:

USCP documents show that at 2 p.m. on that day, only 1,214 officers were “on site” across the Capitol complex of buildings. Congressional investigators concluded, however, that USCP could only account for 417 officers and could not account for the whereabouts of the remaining 797 officers.

In late 2022, when I first met with former Capitol Police officer turned whistleblower Lt. Tarik Johnson, he confirmed that my initial estimate of “fewer than 200” Capitol Police officers at the Capitol Building during the first wave of violence on January 6 was accurate.

Johnson explained that during previous protest events, the standard operating procedure required an “all hands on deck” approach for Capitol Police. On those days, officers working the night shift were required to stay and work a double shift through the next day. But on January 6, Capitol Police command sent those officers home after their shifts, treating it like a routine day at the office.

In a follow-up phone conversation, Johnson revealed more about the deceptions Capitol Police leadership spread regarding force deployment on January 6. Addressing internal department and congressional investigations that claimed officials “could not account for the whereabouts of the remaining 797 officers,” Johnson said, "It's a bald-faced lie, and you can quote me on that."

Johnson explained that all Capitol Police officers clock in and clock out electronically at the start and end of each shift. Once clocked in, each officer is tracked throughout the tour of duty, making it impossible for their commanders not to know their whereabouts. This information should still be available in the computer logs — assuming the logs haven’t been erased.

When asked why Capitol Police leadership would cover up information about force deployment, Johnson responded, “Because they don’t want to tell you where the officers were or what they were doing. They don’t want anyone to know how many of our officers were on administrative leave that day.”

My investigations, which include interviews with Capitol Police officers and congressional investigators, revealed further embarrassment, as several officers went into hiding once the violence began, locking themselves in offices and closets.

Another key issue involves the “diversion events,” when two pipe bombs were coincidentally discovered within minutes of the first provocateurs breaching the west side Capitol barricade. The pipe bombs were found at both the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters — two of nearly 20 buildings under the Capitol Police’s security purview.

Johnson couldn’t estimate how many officers were diverted to the RNC and DNC after the bombs were discovered. However, he emphasized that the emergency response still doesn’t account for the missing whereabouts of 797 officers. He noted that exact records of how many officers were diverted, and precisely who, should be easily retrievable from Capitol Police computer records.

Set up to fail?

The first Oath Keepers trial featured the testimony of Stephen Brown, a Florida-based event planner hired by the controversial figure Ali Alexander, a Trump supporter and founder of Stop the Steal. Brown’s job was to secure permits from the Capitol Police for an event on the Capitol grounds. He was also responsible for organizing the rental of the staging and public address system and coordinating the scheduling of VIP speakers and stage security, handled by members of the Oath Keepers.

Brown testified that he had previously planned many protest events in the nation’s capital, with attendance ranging from as few as 5,000 to as many as 300,000 protesters.

Under direct examination by Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs’ defense attorney Stanley Woodward, Brown described the surprisingly small presence of Capitol officers during the delivery and setup of the staging and PA system. He noted that at previous events he’d organized on Capitol grounds, he had seen “three, four, even five times the size of police presence, including SWAT teams,” compared to what was present on January 6.

The inconvenient truth is that my camera, Stephen Brown’s testimony, and statements by Lt. Johnson and other Capitol Police officers suggest a deliberate under-deployment of officers that day — a day in which we now know, and as I have previously written:

Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, Asst. Chief Yogananda Pittman, head of protective and intelligence operations, the D.C. Metro Police, the United States Park Police, the White House, the Pentagon, the National Guard, both the Senate and House of Representative Sergeants-at-Arms, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, the FBI, and other federal agencies all knew that tens of thousands of protestors would be descending upon the Capitol grounds that day.

An unnamed Capitol Police officer, just days after the melee, told the Associated Press, “During the 4th of July concerts and the Memorial Day concerts, we don’t have people come up and say, ‘We’re going to seize the Capitol.’ But yet, you bring everybody in, you meet before. That never happened for this event.”

According to the Washington Post, only a week after the Capitol was breached, “an FBI office in Virginia issued an explicit warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and ‘war,’ according to an internal document reviewed by The Washington Post.”

Instead of “all hands on deck,” frontline Capitol Police officers were somewhere between one-tenth to one-fifth strength when it came time to respond to what was coming their way. Whether an operational failure or deliberate under-deployment, this set up the circumstances enabling the breach of the Capitol Building by a relatively small number of aggressive and violent rioters.

Ultimately, it remains inexplicable why only 200 to 300 violent perpetrators wielding sticks, flagpoles, clubs, and bear spray were able to overpower two fully armed law enforcement agencies, the tactical units of nearly every three-letter federal agency, and an unknown number of undercover law enforcement assets to breach what is supposed to be one of the most secure government facilities in the world.

Unless, of course, they were set up to fail. Most Capitol Police officers on duty that day believe that to be the case.

This would explain why Capitol Police union members gave then-acting Chief Yogananda Pittman a 92% “no-confidence” vote only five weeks after her curiously absent leadership from their command center on January 6.