Capitol Police union boss decries special treatment for officer who killed unarmed J6 protester

The U.S. Capitol Police union leader is calling out the department for providing special financial and other benefits to Capt. Michael Byrd, the officer who fatally shot Jan. 6 protestor Ashli Babbitt, that were not given to fellow officers.

“What a slap in the face to the rank and file officers of the USCP, especially all who were on duty on J6,” U.S. Capitol Police union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said in a statement Thursday to Just the News. 

Just the News reported Wednesday that House Democratic leadership pressured the Capitol Police to provide financial and other assistance to then-Lt. Michael Byrd after the shooting that included a $37,000 retention bonus, help with $160,000 in private fundraising, housing, and a promotion to captain. 

This assistance far surpassed the support given to other officers who were serving on the Capitol grounds that day. 

Papathanasiou demanded that Byrd be forced to repay the amounts he was given that exceeded bonuses for other officers who served on Jan. 6, 2021, or that the department provide the same benefits to all.

"Not sure what makes Mike Byrd so special that he thinks he needed to be 'taken care of' by the Department. USCP should give every officer a $37k bonus or have Mike Byrd pay it all back," the union boss said.

A lawyer for Byrd and a spokesman for Capitol Police did not return messages seeking comment.

Internal communications reviewed by Just the News show that Byrd was unsatisfied with the generous assistance and worked with at least one Democratic representative to secure even more benefits, specifically from a memorial fund dedicated to providing help to wounded officers.

"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 the memorial fund. 

Byrd, who was promoted to captain in 2023, has also stirred controversy because of his lengthy disciplinary record including gun incidents like firing on a stolen vehicle in a residential neighborhood while off duty and a suspension for leaving his weapon unattended in a public restroom. 

Union head: "what else is the USCP covering up?"

According to Chairman Barry Loudermilk of the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee, whose committee has led the charge in investigating the Capitol Police and the many security failures on January 6, said that there are at least three further referrals to the Office of Professional Responsibility, but that the records are missing. 

Loudermilk called the political influence on the Capitol Police to treat Byrd favorably “highly inappropriate” in an interview on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show.  He said the thing that bothers him the most about the Byrd saga is the “lack of transparency and the political meddling that that was going on.” 

Union leader Papathanasiou believes these revelations warrant an investigation into Capitol Police leadership by the incoming Congress. “I'm curious, what else is the USCP covering up?” Papathanasiou said. “I truly hope the new Congress comes in to conduct a deep dive investigation into all of this and the top brass of the USCP, to include the IG office and OGC.” 

“There needs to be transparency and accountability,” he added. 

Byrd: It was "a last resort"

Tom Fitton, whose Judicial Watch filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government on behalf of Ashli Babbitt’s family, told Just the News that Byrd should never have had a firearm in the first place and highlighted the extraordinary lack of transparency following the incident from Capitol Police. Judicial Watch’s $30 million lawsuit alleges Byrd did not follow proper USCP procedures for use of a firearm. Judge Ana C. Reyes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia scheduled a trial date for July 20, 2026. 

“Let me be clear, Byrd should never have been anywhere near a weapon, let alone in a high level security position,” Fitton said on the John Solomon Reports podcast. “Taking a step back in officer-involved shootings, we've all been, you know, with the country sensitized to them, what happens? Right? There's grand juries to put administrative leave, et cetera, and and in a case like what Byrd did to Ashley Babbitt, it likely would have resulted in criminal charges,” Fitton said. 

“We couldn't even find out his name for six, eight months, right until Byrd himself released it,” he continued. “Not only did he not get put on administrative leave in the in the traditional sense, he was paid…not to work for an unknown period of time.” 

In his only interview to date, Byrd told NBC News' Lester Holt about his experience on Jan. 6 and defended the decisions that he made that day, including to use his firearm against the unarmed  Babbitt, a pro-Trump protestor who had entered the Capitol and was trying to enter the House chamber through a window. "I had been yelling and screaming as loud as I was: please stop! Get back! Get back! Stop!" Byrd recounted. "We had weapons drawn.” 

"She was posing a threat to [the] United States House of Representatives,” he said. In the interview, Byrd also claimed that he had no idea whether the person he shot was carrying a weapon. It was only later that night that he found out that the rioter was a woman who was unarmed. Asked why he pulled the trigger, Byrd said it was a “last resort.”

"I can only control my reaction, my training, my level of expertise," he said when asked why he fired his weapon that day while other officers in similar situations did not.

A previous internal USCP investigation of the officer involved shooting completed in August 2021 found that then-Lieutenant Byrd's conduct was "lawful and within Department policy” and he did not face any internal discipline for the incident.