release after exonerating you said your actions potentially saved members and staff from serious injury and possible death. what was it like to hear those words, to see those words? those words meant a lot because that s exactly what i did. on that day. that was my mission. that was what i prepared for. and it s rewarding and refreshing to hear that. several of lieutenant byrd s capitol police know who they are blaming for the january 6th attack and today they filed a lute against former president donald trump. we will tell you about that after this. rump we will tell you about that after this
back today if you were so assigned? i sure would because it s my job. reporter: as i said, your name has been on the internet for some time in an unofficial way a lot of rumors, a lot of accusations, one is that you had a sort of political motive. you were a political operative. i do my job for republican, for democrat, for whites, for blacks, red, blue, green. reporter: a few years ago you were investigated for leaving your service weapon in a bathroom. and that has been brought up by those who are questioning your competency. yeah. reporter: do you want to respond to that? sure. it was a terrible mistake. i acknowledged it. i owned up to it. i accepted the responsibility. i was penalized for it. and i moved on. reporter: multiple investigations have now upheld byrd s actions on january 6th. capitol police in their press
being perceived as political actors. how did this lawsuit come about and why did the seven officers decide to join the suit? look, first, these officers are regular folk, you know. they are long timers on this capitol police force. they are not fly by nights, you know, a couple have over 30 years of service, some are military veterans, some are parents, come have a diverse set of backgrounds. so they are stalwarts at doing their jobs just like lieutenant byrd said and is. but these individuals have been waiting and waiting for the usual processes to work. they waited for legal processes to work. it s slow and it s a grind in terms of criminal prosecutions. they waited for political processes to work, and those are slow as well. but if you believe some of the politicos, there was no insurrection at all. they are just fed up. they are fed up with having sacrificed, having stood on that line and not being appreciated.
you know, allying with really dangerous warlords who isolated the local population from the afghan government. it really depends who you are talking to, and that rural urban divide is not focused on. there are so many reporters who come to afghanistan, stay in kabul and that s where a majority of their sources are. thanks so much for coming on on a difficult night. thank you. tonight for the very first time the capitol police officer who shot ashli babbitt during the assault on the capitol speaks out. an nbc exclusive interview with lester holt. lieutenant michael byrd shares his story of during the attack and the threats he endured since. given the nature of the threats that you describe, do you have any concern about showing your face and identifying yourself? of course i do.
more threat because he s black. as a black officer isn t he in greater risk now? i think it goes without saying. fp you re a person of color in this country, you re always going to be under more scrutiny, period. if we look at the four officers who testified, one being white in front of congress a few weeks ago. you remember the threats. he s getting threats too. that s right. now you have lieutenant byrd who would have come up under threat whether he was white or black but the fact that he is black in this society and this country that we live in, people will manipulate for its own benefit. i have the confidence in this country and the residents and the citizens of this country that the majority will not be mislead. we will learn from it and hopefully nothing like there happens again. that officer, lieutenant byrd