Ashli Babbitt shooting: Officer who fatally shot Capitol rioter says he ‘saved countless lives’

The US Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt will publicly reveal his identity following attempts among federal law enforcement to limit his exposure in the wake of “numerous credible and specific threats” of violence against him and others by far-right figures.

His pre-taped interview to air on Thursday has drawn criticism reviving those warnings.

“I am intrigued and slightly concerned,” former FBI assistant director Frank Figliuzzi told MSNBC. “I’m monitoring communications from violent extremists – they want this guy, they want to find out who he is, many of them already know ... I’m intrigued why he feels now he needs to come forward and explain his actions.”

After he was cleared by federal law enforcement and Capitol police, finding that his actions fell within the agency’s use of force policies, “he needs to convey that,” Mr Figliuzzi added. “And we need to hear from him as to exactly what he found to be an imminent threat to life or seriously bodily harm to him [and others].”

Maryland attorney Terry Roberts, who has accused the officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt of “ambushing” her as she broke into the House chambers, has reportedly named the officer, as the family crowdfunds a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $10m.

The attorney’s announcement arrived hours before the US Capitol Police officer will speak publicly for the first time in an interview to air on NBC News on Thursday night.

“I would call what he did an ambush,” Roberts said earlier this month. “I don’t think he’s a good officer. I think he’s reckless.”

Following an announcement from Capitol Police that the officer will not be disciplined, an attorney representing the officer said that “every piece of evidence that is released further validates the Lieutenant’s conduct. The Lieutenant exercised professionalism and restraint in heroically defending and protecting members of Congress and their staff during the violent insurrection on January 6th.”

Court summonses have been issued to Donald Trump and his allies and far-right groups targeted in a lawsuit from a group of US Capitol Police officers.

If they do not respond to the complaint within 21 days, they may face a default judgment for relief.

The latest Capitol rioter to be indicted by federal prosecutors faces a range of charges, including assaulting a police officer outside the Capitol building.

According to prosecutors, Ryan Samsel, wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap, pushed down barricades and knocked officers down in the process. One officer lost consciousness. “We don’t have to hurt you, why are you standing in our way?” Mr Samsel reportedly said.

The officer was transported to an emergency room and treated for a concussion, prosecutors said.

Mr Samsel then allegedly tried to pull a shield away from another officer.

Coming up on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: The US Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt will speak publicly for the first time.

The programme is leading with a report on the ISIS-K blast in Kabul that killed more than 60 people including 12 US service members.

Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone told The Daily Beast that he was among a group of people supporting the US Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during his interview with NBC, to air tonight.

“He’s a hero to me,” he told the publication. “I’m incredibly humbled to have been able to be there to support him this morning [during the taping of the interview]. I don’t even have the words to describe how difficult this is for him and his family… He is essentially sacrificing himself at the altar of our democracy today in pursuit of the truth.”

The US Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riot on 6 January has revealed his identity during his first interview following the assault on Congress.

Lt Michael Byrd, who guarded glass doors leading to a lobby outside the House of Representatives, where lawmakers and staff were huddled, told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt that his single shot “saved countless lives.”

“I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger,” he told the network in an interview aired on 26 August. “And that’s my job.”

The Independent’s Alex Woodward has the latest ahead of the blockbuster interview.

The Washington police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter who became a martyr in right-wing circles after dying during the 6 January Capitol riot, says he had to go into hiding once his name was leaked.

Lt. Michael Byrd, a 28-year veteran of the US Capitol police is Black, and said he faced a torrent of racist abuse once his identity made its way onto conservative media sites. I’ve got more details here.

Though his name was only revealed publicly today, high-profile conservatives have gone after the US Capitol police officer who shot rioter Ashli Babbitt on 6 January, denouncing the killing as a “murder.”

That, according to the officer who pulled the trigger, Lt Michael Byrd, is “disheartening.” He said he would take the exact same actions to protect Donald Trump and his family if they had been nearby.

“If he was in the room or anywhere and I’m responsible for him, I was prepared to do the same thing for him and his family,” the officer told NBC news on Thursday.

When anchor Lester Holt asked Mr Byrd, even after the comments Mr Trump and others have made, whether he would still want to protect him, this was his response: “I sure would because it’s my job,” adding, “I do my job for Republican, for Democrat, for white, for Black, red, blue, green.”

The officer who fatally shot unarmed Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt during the 6 January US Capitol riot has provided new information on the crucial moments that led up to the killing.

Lt Michael Byrd, who identified himself publicly for the first time on Thursday, told NBC News that even though he wasn’t sure if the woman had a weapon, “it did not” change his decision to pull the trigger.

“I had been yelling and screaming as loud as I was, ‘Please stop. Get back. Get back. Stop,’” the officer told anchor Lester Holt. “We had our weapons drawn.”

During the riot, Mr Byrd and other Capitol police officers were essentially barricaded in between the House of Representatives chamber and the outside of the Capitol, piling up furniture as a makeshift defense.

As the crowd penetrated deeper into the building, the veteran officer said his radio picked up messages of police being overrun in other sectors, and a report, which later turned out to be false, that one of the rioters had fired a gun inside the Capitol.

The Capitol Police and Justice Department cleared Lt Byrd of wrongdoing, though Ms Babbitt’s family is reportedly launching a wrongful death suit against him.