Ashli Babbitt Shooting Update

Judicial Watch Sues for Details of Ashli Babbitt’s Shooter’s Special Housing
Judicial Watch Reveals Biden Administration Propaganda Plan for COVID Vaccine
Millions in DHS ‘Terrorism Prevention’ Grants go to Promote ‘Media Literacy’

Judicial Watch Sues for Details of Ashli Babbitt’s Shooter’s Special Housing

The government’s actions during and after the January 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol continue raising serious questions. We’re now pursuing a rather extraordinary cover-up of Defense Department involvement in the aftermath of the police killing of an unarmed veteran on that day.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Justice for records related to the housing of U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd at Joint Base Andrews after he shot and killed U.S. Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 (Judicial Watch v U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:22-cv-02948)).

We have received information that Byrd was housed at Andrews in the immediate period after he killed Babbitt.

The unarmed Babbitt was shot and killed as she allegedly climbed through a broken interior window in the United States Capitol. She was a 14-year Air Force veteran. The identity of the shooter was kept secret by Congress, the Justice Department, and DC police for eight months until Byrd went public in August 2021 to try to defend his killing of Babbitt.

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after Joint Base Andrews, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, and the FBI failed to respond to three July 2022 FOIA requests about Byrd’s housing while his name as the shooter of Ashli Babbitt was being withheld from the public by the government.

In our complaint, we explained to the court that we had asked all three government agencies for all records relating to the billeting of Byrd at Andrews from January 6, 2021, to July 2022, including authorization papers, housing, meals, transportation, and visitor logs.

Here’s some background.

In June 2022, we produced DOJ records related to shooting that included a memo recommending “that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia decline for criminal prosecution the fatal shooting of Ashli McEntee [Babbitt],” also noting that the shooter, Byrd, “did not create a police report or documents” related to the shooting of Babbitt. A footnote details missing evidence: “During the debrief of Lieutenant Byrd, he did recall writing a few sentences on an evidence bag the evening of January 6, 2021, at the request of a crime scene officer. To date, the bag has not been located by USCP or MPD.”

In November 2021, we received multiple audio, visual and photo records from the DC Metropolitan Police Department about the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt on January 6, 2021, in the U.S. Capitol Building. The records include a cell phone video of the shooting. An audio file of a police interview of the shooter, Byrd, indicates he declined to cooperate.

We previously uncovered records from the DC Metropolitan Police showing that multiple officers claimed they didn’t see a weapon in Babbitt’s hand before Byrd shot her, and that Byrd was visibly distraught afterward. One officer attested that he didn’t recall hearing any verbal commands before Byrd shot Babbitt. The records include internal communications about Byrd’s case and a crime scene examination report. Investigators who wrote the January 6, 2021, Metro PD Death Report for Babbitt (identified as Ashli Elizabeth McEntee-Babbitt Pamatian) note that the possible Manner of Death was “Homicide (Police Involved Shooting).”

We are engaged in a comprehensive, independent investigation into the January 6 disturbance:

• February 2022: we filed an opposition to the U.S. Capitol Police’s (USCP) effort to shut down our federal lawsuit for January 6 videos and emails. Through its police department, Congress argues that the videos and emails are not public records, there is no public interest in their release, and that “sovereign immunity” prevents citizens from suing for their release.
• In November 2021: we – in our FOIA lawsuit asking for records of communication between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and several financial institutions about the reported transfer of financial transaction records of people in DC, Maryland and Virginia on January 5 and January 6, 2021 – told a federal court that the FBI may have violated law in its January 6 probes.

The liberal Big Media, the compromised Biden administration, and the complicit Pelosi Congress have zero interest in justice for the killing of Ashli Babbitt.  Judicial Watch, with your support, is proud to step into this accountability gap to demand the truth.

 

Judicial Watch Reveals Biden Administration Propaganda Plan for COVID Vaccine

Judicial Watch just uncovered a major document about the Biden administration’s propaganda effort to push the COVID vaccines

We received 249 pages of records from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) detailing extensive media plans for a propaganda campaign.

We received the records in response to an August 2021 FOIA lawsuit we filed after HHS failed to respond to an April 19, 2021 request for records related to the Biden HHS’ “COVID-19 Community Corps” program (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:22-cv-02315)).

We asked for all records regarding the application process; all organizations asking to be chosen to participate; all grants; and all communications of representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the program.

The newly released records include a document titled “PEC [Public Education Campaign] Plan April 19 -May 31 [2021],” which includes the following media plans and action items:

Major [Public Education] Projects in April

• Vaccine engagement package to all entertainment talent and management agencies
• Vaccine engagement package to all media companies and show producers
• Outreach to major culture event producers
• Outreach with WCDT [likely We Can Do This] brand and engagement ideas to major businesses and associations
• Launch Community Corps Business Chapter
• Start celebrity Share the Mics

***

POTUS May 1-31

• Late night hosts vaccination video.

***

Additional Ideas to be Considered

Digital Media

• Produce HHS question-and-answer videos featuring local Black doctors discussing the vaccines, how they work, and why the public should get vaccinated
• Request that Tom Brady create a video with his parents encouraging vaccination (his parents had COVID last year and he has talked about their tough recovery).
• Create custom partnerships with the social media platforms with algorithms to hit the audience.
• Launch Hollywood comedy writers video content.

***

• Work with YouTube on an original special about vaccinations targeted to young people (similar to the YouTube’s Dear Call of 2020 special).
• Work with Instagram to produce a series about vaccines for @Instagram (the largest social media account in the world, 387 million followers). Feature young creators doing in-depth pieces about young people’s questions. Request a Stories Highlight on Vaccines on @Instagram to stay on the account through 2021.
• Request major TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram influences to create videos of themselves being vaccinated and start a special campaign of funny and/or musical videos about being vaccinate to encourage others to create content and post.

Earned Media

• Request a vaccination special on Christian Broadcast Network featur[ing] Evangelical leaders.
• Request that the major live TV entertainment shows feature hosts being vaccinated on air (ex: the hosts of The Voice).
• Request that the TV morning and daytime talk shows feature special vaccination reunion moments with everyday Americans talking about what this means to them (ex: hugging grandma for the first time).
• Convene an editorial meeting with the publishers of Catholic newspapers and newsletters across the country (ex: America Magazine, Florida Catholic, The Catholic Spirit, The Tablet).
• Biden interview with Chip and Joanna Gaines for Magnolia.
• Request vaccination specials with BET, The Undefeated, Desus & Mero, Sneaker Shopper Hot Ones.
• Request a vaccination special With Christian Broadcasting Netflix and Evangelical leaders.
• Place a trusted messenger on the Joe Rogan Show and Barstool Sports to promote vaccination (work with outside expert to identify who will be most effective).

Partnerships

• Work with the NFL, NASCAR, MLB, CMA to request they create content with their talent and release through their broadcast and social channels. Also create a Share the Mic program where the talent elevates public health voices.
• Work with all major sports leagues to send vaccination information to ticket holders
• Work with ESPN for hosts to provide vaccination information.
• Partner with Disneyland Parks for vaccination events when the amusement parks reopen.
• Work with the Hollywood guilds to work vaccination messaging into scriped and reality TV shows (ex: Writers Guild, Directors Guild.)

These records show a disturbing and massive campaign by the Biden administration to propagandize and politicize the controversial COVID vaccine. It seems as if the entire entertainment industry was an agent for the government!

 

Millions in DHS ‘Terrorism Prevention’ Grants go to Promote ‘Media Literacy’

Our Corruption Chronicles blog has disturbing details about the expanding Biden administration scheme to control and censor Americans:

The agency created after 9/11 to protect the nation from another terrorist attack is giving nonprofits, local governments, and academic institutions millions of dollars to promote media literacy and combat what the Biden administration considers to be “disinformation.” Among the recipients of the grants awarded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a center founded by former President Jimmy Carter to implement a “media literacy curriculum” designed to mitigate the harms presented by disinformation. In all, DHS will dole out around $7 million for its new media literacy campaign, which is part of a broader and handsomely funded initiative called Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program (TVTP) launched in 2020 to “prevent targeted violence and terrorism.”

This year DHS is doling out $20 million in grants to dozens of recipients to meet TVTP’s mission of preventing incidents of domestic violent extremism, as well as to bolster efforts to counter online radicalization and mobilization to violence. In the press release announcing the $20 million investment, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the agency is equipping local communities and organizations, including those “historically underserved,” with needed resources to become more effective partners to strengthen security and help Americans feel safe and secure. In the announcement DHS reveals that it encouraged applicants from diverse groups and conducted extensive outreach to a variety of public and nonprofit sectors. In fact, the agency writes that among this year’s priorities is “advancing equity in awards and engaging underserved communities in prevention.”

A chunk of the TVTP money—$7 million—will be dedicated to the media literacy campaign, which will focus largely on combatting “misinformation and disinformation.” The Carter Center, which was founded by the former Democratic president, is getting $99,372 to implement its media literacy curriculum. The goal is to address the gap in media literacy education in the United States within a targeted violence and terrorism prevention context to demonstrate the effectiveness in mitigating the harms presented by disinformation, according to DHS. “This partnership would allow The Carter Center to deploy its curriculum modules over a two-year period in multiple classroom settings targeting a wide population aged 18 to 60 years old,” DHS writes in its recent announcement. “Media literacy trainings build capacities in evaluating media sources, assessing media intent, interpreting media messages, understanding how the brain processes information, understanding how online media shapes perception, recognizing false and misleading information, investigating suspicious claims, and practicing good media hygiene.”

The University of Rhode Island will receive $701,612 to combat disinformation, conspiracy theories and propaganda that have become large-scale social problems shaping the ways citizens view facts, define truth, and make decisions, according to DHS. The university will use the taxpayer dollars to create initiatives that help people critically analyze information, digital media, and popular culture to benefit all members of society by “diminishing the appeal of us-vs-them thinking that activates strong emotions and oversimplifies ideas and information.” The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will get $750,000 to create an “educational digital game” designed to help students understand different strategies used to spread disinformation and combat it at the institutional level. The Uran Rural Action, a group that strives for a “more inclusive democracy” across ideological and racial differences, will receive $769,190 to create a “Local Prevention Framework.”

Above is just a sample of the groups that will fill their coffers with public funds for this fictitious crisis created by the Biden administration to control information. Many more are getting six figures from the government for this nonsense. “Disinformation, conspiracy theories, and propaganda have become large-scale social problems, shaping the way citizens view facts, define truth, and make decisions,” according to the DHS grant document.

Until next week …