INTERACTIVE MAP: Is Critical Race Theory at a school near you?

ABOUT TIME: RealClearInvestigations: Naming the Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Unarmed Jan. 6 Rioter Ashli Babbitt.

For the past six months, as Congress has proposed legislation to reform police departments across the country, the Capitol Police has stiff-armed government watchdogs, journalists and even lawyers for Babbitt, who have sought the identity of the officer and additional details about the shooting. The USCP still refuses to release his name, in stark contrast to recent high-profile police shootings around the nation.

In February, USCP issued a press release promising to “share additional information once the investigation is complete.” But Justice Department investigators closed their probe in April, clearing the officer of criminal wrongdoing in Babbitt’s death, which the medical examiner ruled a homicide. And last month, the D.C. Police — which shares jurisdiction with the Capitol Police and has led the investigation into Babbitt’s shooting — concluded its own internal review of the shooting without making any findings, according to spokeswoman Kristen Metzger.Still, USCP continues “stonewalling the public,” according to the head of the police union. . . .

Now a new name has surfaced in the Babbitt imbroglio — Lt. Michael L. Byrd — and while USCP Communications Director Eva Malecki won’t confirm he is the shooter, in this case she isn’t denying it.

In a little-noticed exchange, Byrd was cited by the acting House sergeant at arms during a brief discussion of the officer who shot Babbitt at a Feb. 25 House hearing. Both C-SPAN and CNN removed his name from transcripts, but CQ Transcripts — which, according to its website, provides “the complete word from Capitol Hill; exactly as it was spoken” — recorded the Capitol official, Timothy Blodgett, referring to the cop as “Officer Byrd.” His name is clearly audible in the videotape of the hearing (at around 39:20).

Byrd appears to match the description of the shooter, who video footage shows is an African American dressed that day in a business suit. Jewelry, including a beaded bracelet and lapel pin, also match up with photos of Byrd.

In addition, Byrd’s resume lines up with what is known about the experience and position of the officer involved in the shooting — a veteran USCP officer who holds the rank of lieutenant and is the commander of the House Chamber Section of the Capitol Police.

Following the shooting, Byrd’s Internet footprint was scrubbed, including his social media and personal photos.

Plus:

In February 2019, Lt. Byrd was investigated for leaving his department-issued Glock-22 firearm unattended in a restroom on the House side of the Capitol, even though the potent weapon, which fires .40-caliber rounds, has no manual safety to prevent unintended firing. Fortunately, the abandoned gun was discovered by another officer during a routine security sweep. A Glock-22 was used in the Babbitt shooting.

Byrd addressed the blunder at a roll call the following morning, reportedly telling fellow officers that he would “be treated differently” because of his rank as a lieutenant.

Stay tuned. The January 6 “Lego Insurrection” story seems to be unraveling.

I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE MEDIA AND POLITICAL CLASS EVEN THINK JANUARY 6 WAS THAT BAD: Subpoenas urged for Ivanka, Don Jr., and Meadows for Trump Jan. 6 involvement.

I haven’t seen any polling on that lately. Of course, with sinister headlines like this, how could people not be afraid? FBI seized ‘fully constructed’ US Capitol Lego set from home of alleged rioter.

I wonder if there was a recording of him/her saying “Now we will demonstrate the power of this fully-constructed Lego Capitol”?

Related: “This is even dumber than when, in the 1980s, the FBI raided Steve Jackson Games and seized everything in sight, because SJG published a board game titled ‘Hacker.'”

Plus:

Heh. What a joke. I mean, except for the dozens of people held without bail in solitary confinement for political reasons.

Related: Photos that refute the thesis:

Also related: Why the Ruling Class Makes 2020 Election Skeptics Potential Domestic Terrorists.

Plus:

Call it the “Lego Insurrection.”

MORE:

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Obama’s ‘Voter Protection Director’ Has a New Gig: Lobbying on Behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

BUT THE DEADLY DELTA-LAMBDA VARIANTS! PHOTOS: John Kerry Flouts Mask Mandate at Airport.

Rules are for the little people. If the past year-and-a-half has established anything at all, it’s that.

THE WORST THING PELOSI IS DOING YOU’VE NEVER HEARD ABOUT: Pelosi used Covid as the excuse to establish a surveillance system giving her control over who can meet their representative in congressional offices. Read all about it in my latest PJ Media column. And don’t miss my suggestion on why it’s long past time for House GOPers to grow a pair and tell Pelosi “No!”

HMM: Increasingly, the ULA-Blue Origin marriage is an unhappy one.

Privately, multiple sources say, the relationship between Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance is not good. “There is great concern about this engine development,” one person in the industry said. “It’s much more than Tory Bruno is showing publicly. There is great concern that Blue is not putting enough attention and priority on the engine.”

For years, United Launch Alliance chief executive Tory Bruno had been saying the new Vulcan rocket, powered by two BE-4 engines, would launch in 2021. However, he recently told Aviation Week the first launch would slip into 2022. Bruno said this was due primarily to the mission’s customer, Astrobotic, whose Moon lander was not ready. Technically, Bruno said, Vulcan still had a chance to be ready for a 2021 launch.

This seems highly unlikely because it is already July, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) still does not have a pair of flight engines. After receiving the flight engines from Blue Origin, ULA needs to attach them to the Vulcan rocket, roll it to the launch pad, and conduct a lengthy series of tests before a hot-fire ignition. After this hot-fire test, the rocket will be rolled back to the hangar and prepared for an actual launch attempt. As of January, Bruno was saying this hot fire test with the flight engines would take place this summer. That will no longer happen.

In response to a question from Ars, ULA declined to offer an updated timeline for when it expects to take delivery of flight-ready BE-4 engines from Blue Origin.

ULA chose Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine back in 2014 to power its Vulcan heavy lift rockets — and seven years later no BE-4 has reached orbit.

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Teachers union chief: We don’t teach Critical Race Theory. Teachers union: Teaching Critical Race Theory is important.

ANOTHER POLL FINDS PUBLIC DOUBTS JOE’S ALL THERE: Even a third of the Democrats responding to this one doubt His Fraudulency is in charge in the Oval Office.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Hawaii Bill Legalizing Stun Guns Just Became Law Today, Will Become Effective Jan. 1.

FOURTH COVID VACCINE COMING: The “inventor” of the mRNA technology of the current Covid vaccines tells The Epoch Times’ Jan Jekielek that a new Covid vaccine is about to gain FDA approval and it doesn’t rely on the genetics technology of the current vaccines.

“There is a more traditional vaccine that’s about to, I think, gain emergency use authorization from Novavax. That’s also showed greater than 90% protection against disease and death. So that’s in line with what the genetic vaccines are showing.

And I think that that one offers options for those that are uncomfortable with the genetic vaccine strategy. And I know a lot of people that have been contacting me are interested in having an option, they’re uncomfortable with the genetic vaccines, and they’re interested in having an alternative that they can use. I think that Novavax could be a suitable alternative for them.”

Much more in this lengthy interview in which Malone explains, among much else, why he thinks the vaccine roll-out could have been done “more rigorously” and why it’s extremely significant that even the CDC is now beginning to acknowledge vaccine side effects that are not properly understood.

THE ORIGINALISM BLOG: What to do about New York Times v. Sullivan.

WELL, IT IS RUN BY PROGRESSIVES WHO DESPISE ANYTHING POSITIVE IN AMERICAN HISTORY: Does San Antonio — the Alamo City — Hate the Alamo?

LUCKILY, OUR RULING CLASS COULD NEVER BE THIS DETACHED FROM REALITY: Putin declares only Russian fizz is ‘Champagne.’

In a baffling move, the Kremlin has ruled that only sparkling wine produced in Russia can be sold as ‘Champagne’.

French suppliers were taken aback by a new law, approved by President Putin, that means French fizz will now have to be sold as ‘sparkling wine’ in Russia.

Moët Hennessy’s Moscow office claimed that French producers were not prepared to change the name of their product for the Russian market, adding that delivery would be banned until a solution could be found, effectively suspending imports while the company looks at rebranding its bottles.

Russia currently imports around 50 million litres of sparkling wine each year, of which 13% is French Champagne. There are already several brands of Russian ‘Champagne’ on sale in the country, produced in southern regions such as Krasnodar and Rostov, often for as little as 270 roubles (£2.70) a bottle.

“It is no secret that Russia will not be able to meet its needs without imports,” Maxim Kashirin, the head of the Simple wine company, told the RBC media group website. “If we cannot import products, the state is simply shooting itself in the foot.”

Wine consultant Anna Chernyshova said that the ruling had sparked confusion among wine collectors. “My phone has been ringing off the hook,” she told AFP. “Me and my clients are thinking what to do next.”

Gennady Gudkov, an opposition politician, suggested that Russia may now ban Scottish companies from selling “whisky” in Russia.

Nothing says high-class celebration like “Russian champagne.”

NORMALLY I DO MY (MOSTLY INDIE) PROMO POST ON SUNDAY: Book Promo And Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

Yes, it has already been that kind of week. Thank you for asking.

IF THIS IS SUCCESS, I’D HATE TO SEE WHAT FAILURE LOOKS LIKE: Chicago has been releasing accused murderers pretrial. Defending this policy in the wake of recent carnage on Chicago’s streets, the city’s chief judge notes that “out of 181 defendants charged with murder and released pretrial, only seven of them missed at least one court appearance, only 11 were charged with a new offense before trial, and of those 11, only two were charged with violent offenses.” Most criminal acts are never reported to police. Most that are reported to police never lead to criminal charges. So if 11 suspects were *charged* with a criminal offense after release, one can presume that the actual number of offenders was more like in the 50 to 100 range, or somewhere around one-third and one-half of those released. This is what passes for success in Chicago.

THEY ALWAYS CORRUPT OUR ABILITY TO SEE AND CONCEPTUALIZE FIRST:  Exposing the Art World’s Critical Race Theory Problem.