House Democrats pressured U.S. Capitol Police to provide special financial assistance and even a promotion to the officer who fatally shot unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer and charitable assistance not provided to other officers, according to internal emails reviewed by Just the News.
“He is very upset about how he is being treated. He wants us to figure this out, and now,” a top congressional aide to then-House Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, wrote to Capitol Police in November 2021 pressing for more assistance to Lt. Michael Byrd after he killed Babbitt.
The records show that pressure also came from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff and from then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, causing Capitol Police to find any solution they could to make Byrd and Democrats happy. Despite the extraordinary assistance, Byrd expressed dissatisfaction and continued to insist he deserved more, to the chagrin of Capitol Police officials, according to records assembled by Congress.
“We play the game as you request, and then once we’re in compliance, you guys change the rules on us,” Byrd wrote to U.S. Capitol Police General Counsel Thomas DiBiase in November 2021 after being informed he wouldn’t be able to immediately access charitable funds from a memorial fund for fallen or wounded officers.
The department’s chief later told Byrd he would not be offered any further assistance from the memorial fund, but Capitol Police instead helped set up a GoFundMe that netted Byrd more than $160,000 in extra funds. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D—Calif., was one of the many progressives who donated to and promoted the fundraising.
The revelations were uncovered during a probe by Chairman Barry Loudermilk’s House Administration Oversight Subcommittee into the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and follow findings that Byrd has a significant disciplinary record that resulted in six referrals to the USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
Just the News reported earlier this month that at least one of these incidents resulted in a referral to a prosecutor, and others ended with temporary suspensions.
“In addition to USCP’s decision to promote Byrd despite his disciplinary history, I also have concerns about the decisions USCP made with respect to Byrd after January 6, 2021,” Loudermilk wrote in a letter to current USCP Chief Thomas Manger, previously published by Just the News.
Loudermilk told the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show that it is understandable that House Democratic leadership would want to ensure that Byrd was well taken care of, considering he did end up, unfortunately, taking a life, but that their calls for assistance for the then-lieutenant went above and beyond other officers.
“[They] went to extremes, to where they gave bonuses to officers on the front line of the battle, that was a few thousand dollars—Byrd gets one of $37,000 okay, it’s not equally played,” Loudermilk said.
“I think people should really be considering the earlier question, which is whether he should have been on the force,” the chairman said, referring to the now-captain’s lengthy disciplinary record.
You can read Loudermilk’s letter below:
The committee’s investigation uncovered evidence that the USCP went to extraordinary lengths to promote Byrd and provide him financial support dwarfing that other officers on duty received on Jan. 6, including attempts to use a memorial fund for wounded officers to compensate him.
Internal USCP emails obtained by Loudermilk’s subcommittee and reviewed by Just the News show the police department worked to provide significant benefits to Byrd after the shooting, including housing and security protection due to threats to his life and went to great lengths to promote then-Lieutenant Byrd to captain.
At the same time, the emails suggest that House Democratic leadership, including the office of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Rep. Tim Ryan worked closely with the Capitol Police to secure benefits for Byrd, who was refusing to return to work and seeking payments to keep his family afloat at the time.
Neither the U.S. Capitol Police nor a lawyer for Byrd responded to multiple requests for comment from Just the News.
USCP worked with House Democratic Leadership to compensate Byrd
In July 2021, just about six months after Jan. 6, email records show the USCP General Counsel Thomas DiBiase met with Speaker Pelosi’s Director of House Operations, Jamie Fleet, to discuss possible options for assisting Byrd.
“The COP, General Walker, and I met with Jamie Fleet this morning to discuss the possible options for Lt. Byrd. We proposed the following and now have the following ‘To Dos’,” DiBiase wrote to several senior USCP officials including Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman.
According to the email, the USCP discussed providing several financial benefits to Byrd, including compensating him from a memorial fund dedicated to officers wounded in the line of duty, finding a way to promote him to captain, and providing options to help him move to a new home.
Later that same day, DiBiase informed Byrd’s lawyer in a July 2021 email that the USCP had been “discussing Mike’s situation with the Speaker’s staff” and that they would like to discuss the options that came up.
After meeting with leadership, the USCP got to work on the “To Do” list.
For example, the USCP, according to the memos, helped provide significant financial benefits for Byrd, including a high retention bonus and help with private fundraising, beyond any efforts by the department to help other officers on duty that day.
After January 6, the department offered Byrd a $37,000 retention bonus, which dwarfed a $3,000 bonus offered to all officers in the wake of the riot. According to the emails, this was the “maximum” they could do under Capitol Police policy.
Despite this, the emails show that Byrd was apparently “disappointed” with the financial support and repeatedly failed to sign the retention agreement that warranted the payments.
The records show that USCP also explored providing additional compensation from a memorial fund set aside for officers injured or killed in the line of duty. In an email, DiBiase compared Byrd’s situation to two officers wounded during the 2017 congressional baseball shooting, David Bailey and Crystal Griner, who were paid out $52,000 and $63,000, respectively, from the fund.
But, Byrd was upset that the financial assistance was not coming quickly enough and expressed his frustration in an email to DiBiase in November 2021.
“We’re working on an announcement for the entire department as to how folks injured on 1/6 can apply to the [Memorial Fund], and we will consider all the claims at that point,” DiBiase wrote to Byrd.
“I don’t think that’s fair to my wife or me. You know our situation and what we’ve been dealing with,” Byrd replied.
“What you proposed could take months,” he added. “We expected that this would be done soon. Now you’re telling me we got to wait for the rest of the department even to file claims, get evaluated and go through the process we have endured for months.”
“That is blatantly wrong to treat us like this. This was never proposed to us in this manner. Now, we’re being grouped in with everyone else. Wow!” Byrd wrote.
DiBiase appeared startled by Byrd’s dissatisfaction with the USCP’s support.
“Mike, I’m sorry you are disappointed. I find that surprising since we have already provided you $36,000 in unrestricted retention funds,” DiBiase replied. “You know what the rest of the department is receiving? $3,000 each.”
He added: “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.”
This answer did not satisfy Byrd. “We play the game as you request, and then once we’re in compliance, you guys change the rules on us,” he wrote back.
To remedy the situation, the USCP helped Byrd establish a public GoFundMe page to alleviate his financial concerns. The page raised over $164,000 in charitable contributions and was boosted online by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D—Calif., and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a GOP member of the Jan. 6 Select Committee.
According to the records, after Byrd received these donations from the public, USCP Chief Thomas Manger ultimately declined to compensate Byrd further using the Memorial Fund.
Byrd was not happy with this decision. “Ok, thank you, MOC [Members of Congress] have said differently. I will address it on my own,” he wrote in one reply to the Manager. “USCP will not look good as a result.”
Given security detail, housing, home upgrades
The email records show Byrd also received significant assistance in housing and security upgrades for his Maryland home, which the department paid for.
After Byrd’s name began to circulate in the media following January 6, the USCP worked to shield the officer from any potential threats by giving him a protective detail at key points and paying for both a hotel and quarters at a military base for the lieutenant, and the department told House Democratic leadership. Before Byrd was moved to a location away from his home in Maryland, USCP provided full-time protection details.
While he was housed at the military base, Byrd had a security detail from the Diplomatic Protection Division of USCP available to him any time he left the base.
Despite the apparent threats to him after January 6, Byrd agreed to the NBC News interview in August 2021 against the advice of USCP. During his appearance, Byrd did not disguise his identity, which required USCP to “run a 24-7 DPD detail for a week,” further adding to his security costs.
When he finally returned to his own home in January 2022, the USCP reimbursed him for thousands of dollars in security upgrades, including creating two “safe rooms” and purchasing cameras with high-quality Wi-Fi connections. Additionally, the USCP worked with his Homeowners Association to extend fencing around his property, according to one report submitted to Democratic leadership.
Loudermilk’s committee estimated that these security upgrades alone cost the USCP $21,899. It is not known how much the extensive security detail and housing cost the department in total while Byrd was away from home.
Promotion to captain despite disciplinary record
The USCP also promised Democratic leadership that it would try to give Byrd a promotion to captain, even though he did not make the cutoff for the list for the one open captain slot. Just the News reported in late November that Byrd has a long history of disciplinary action preceding J6 involving several gun incidents.
Records show that the department assembled a proposal to the Capitol Police Board to add an additional captain’s position so that Byrd could receive the promotion in 2021, though Congress found this proposal was never submitted.
Though the USCP’s efforts to promote Byrd in 2021 did not succeed, the USCP promoted Byrd to captain two years later.
