The Killing of Ashli Babbitt

• Why was the shooter, Lt. Michael Leroy Byrd, never questioned by internal affairs detectives? 

• Why was the crowd in the packed Speaker’s Lobby forced out of the building without any of the witnesses questioned by police? 

• Why have investigators not identified at least two dozen material witnesses from that hallway? What did they see, and what did their smart phones record?

• Were there undercover law enforcement officers in the crowd who should have acted to stop the violence? 

• Who were the mysterious “Frick and Frack,” witnesses who met secretly with Capitol Police after the shooting? They never faced arrest, even though video shows them setting up makeshift ladders and inciting people to climb the Northwest Steps on Jan. 6.

• Why was Lt. Byrd not only protected by top Democrats in Congress, but rewarded with USCP cash bonuses, a $167,000 GoFundMe account, and a promotion after Jan. 6?

Why is a woman who actually stopped the riot in the hallway still subjected to demonic lies, abject hatred and ongoing abuse from unhinged leftist politicians, the mockingbird media and even liberal retired generals? They do no research and reject incontrovertible evidence because they simply don’t care about the truth. They spew propaganda and spin deceitful narrative, intent on smearing anyone tied to President Donald J. Trump.

Ashli Babbitt was not a rioter, an insurrectionist, or a member of a violent mob. The only violent act she committed that day was a left hook to the nose of an actual rioter, Zachary Jordan Alam, that put a stop to his violent rampage. The obedient leftist media continue to use the “rioter” smear for the same reason they obsessively referred to “storming the Capitol” in breathless reports on Jan. 6: this is not a story. It is a highly partisan and purposely divisive narrative. Truth has no quarter with them.

Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services at the Pentagon, made the decision on Feb. 9, 2021, to deny an honorably discharged veteran military funeral honors, claiming said honors would “bring discredit” to the Air Force. Title 10 U.S. Code §985 refers not to the service branch but rather something that brings discredit to “the person’s service.”

That unrighteous decision stood until Aug. 15, 2025, when Undersecretary of the Air Force Matthew L. Lohmeier reversed the now-retired general’s action and awarded Babbitt full military honors.

That is an important step to righting just some of the wrongs done to Babbitt and her family since Jan. 6.

These are among the reasons I continue to put such effort into unmasking and sharing what really happened in that hallway between 2:36 and 2:44 p.m. on Jan. 6. Like so much of the Jan. 6 story, the truth about Ashli Babbitt has been lied about, covered up and hidden for too long. All while the perpetrator is left untouched.

Ashli Babbitt served honorably in the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard with assignments in Texas, Alaska, the District of Columbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. She enlisted at age 17. She was a highly trained military police officer who guarded captured jihadi prisoners in Afghanistan, and served on presidential security details for two years.

I have written extensively about the Ashli Babbitt killing—more than any other Jan. 6 topic or indeed any subject in my 41-year career. My Babbitt work included thousands of hours of research, forensic video analysis and interviews that led to many discoveries. But much work remains.