Dakota Beacon

I phoned Mr. Cramer and expressed my disappointment that he has thus far refused to acknowledge his mistake last summer in condemning the actions of veteran Ashli Babbitt and in his unquestioning support of her killer.  The matter has resurfaced in the revelation of new footage showing that Babbitt, rather than vandalizing or breaking into the building, was, in fact, doing all in her power to deter others from doing so, defending the property from such attack.  We now know that the perpetrators of the violence were not the peaceful citizens assembled to rally there but were operatives of the FBI, acting in concert with ANTIFA, BLM and members of the Capitol Police.  It was a false flag attack intended to smear patriotic supporters of Trump, and Cramer either intentionally or by being duped, fell in with this effort to defame good people, including especially the late Ashli Babbitt.  Cramer goes even further - he wants to honor the shooter, be damned to the facts.  This does not comport with our Bill of Rights.  Cramer ignored my concerns entirely, instead going on an inappropriate rant about "law and order".

He sent a letter by way of reply to my phone call.  I had already sent him a link to the new evidence which clearly shows Babbitt was not attempting to vandalize the Capitol but rather the opposite.  He simply ignored this.  His letter is obtuse.  I am sharing it with you here.  I am answering it within the body of the letter - my comments are in bold italics.  I just think we should begin looking for someone else to represent North Dakota in the Senate.

 Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding the Capitol riot on January 6th, 2021. I appreciate hearing from you.

     On January 6, 2021, hundreds of protesters breached the Capitol building while Congress was in the midst of debating the certification of the 2020 election. The violence was appalling and I unequivocally condemned the lawlessness of all who participated (“all who participated”?  Do you mean all who attended?  All those people with their signs and funny hats and lawn chairs?).  It would appear from video and photographic evidence which became clear shortly after the event, through independent news outlets that it was not the protesters who instigated the entering of the Capitol building on January 6, but members of the police force who opened the doors for people to come in. The violent “protesters”, as it turns out, seem to be employees of the FBI. They would be “agents provocateurs”, in other words. Surely you don't claim to be so naive that you have never heard of this.

     The United States of America is the greatest country the world has ever known, but we did not live up to that standard on January 6th. What happened was disgusting. It should never have happened, and we all need to make sure it never happens again. Peaceful protest is fundamental to the First Amendment liberties Americans enjoy, but rioting and lawlessness must not be tolerated - no matter who the perpetrator is.  This is a patently false statement. You have not condemned Mr Michael Byrd – and he was “lawless”.   The evidence which is now available to all Americans - including you - show that Ashlee Babbitt was not a “lawless rioter” but rather a patriot who put her own life on the line to stop the vandalism and illegal entry by those who were not there to protest, but to create a false flag event,  while you and the other members of the US Senate were quivering under your desks.  The concern I expressed to your employee was not in support of any riot or rioters, but in support of every American’s right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.  Your officious and deliberately obtuse “response” to my concern simply confirms that you are not fit to serve in the Senate.  No proper inquiry was held into the actions of Mr. Byrd.  There was no presumption of innocence for this young woman who has done more for her country than you, despite her comparative youth.  No.  You condemned her out of hand, like some soviet tool.  I don’t think anyone, certainly not myself, wants to see violence or rioting.  You insult me with your comment.  In fact, Ashlee Babbitt condemned violence and rioting.  On the other hand, there are employees of our government who were secretly encouraging it.  We all know this now, long after the fact, and so do you, Mr. Cramer.  The people who came to Washington to show their support for and belief in our right to express our opinions and to gather peacefully - which, in fact, they did, were not rioting, they were not breaking laws.  They objected (as should YOU) to what nearly everyone now knows was not a free and fair election, but rather a rigged con job.  Every day we are seeing more irrefutable evidence of wrongdoing.  You, of course, remain silent on this evidence.  Babbitt was shot in cold blood.  

You lied when you said that warning was given.  It was not.  No one heard or saw any evidence of warning.  You are very particular about protecting the rights of Michael Byrd, I notice.  You don’t want his actions brought into question.   Yet we see his hand from behind a door, holding the gun and discharging its bullet into the neck of Ashlee Babbitt.  We did not see her break a window.  We also did not see Mr. Byrd come out from behind the door, out of the shadows, to secure the scene.  Is this professional police behavior?  To shoot and then slink away from the scene?  I don’t usually see this kind of behavior in police.  The normal thing when one has shot someone is to secure the scene and protect the evidence of whatever was going on.  Byrd didn’t.  He has previously shown himself to be unprofessional, as when he left a loaded gun in a public bathroom.  His career in law enforcement and certainly in the Capitol building or any other federal installation, should have ended right there.

 I have strongly condemned the riots perpetrated by BLM and Antifa and I apply the same standard to those who sought to disrupt Congress' Constitutional duty.  No, you don’t.  You have a different standard which appears to be based on what direction the Media narrative takes.  Otherwise you would have “condemned” Byrd’s violence.  That was the only shot fired inside the Capitol.  In fact, the only violence we have evidence of on January 6, appears to have been perpetrated by agents of the FBI and facilitated by the Capitol Police, who are seen opening the doors and inviting in the protesters  The film we have of the protesters shows an orderly procession of visitors who do not even stray outside the little velvet ropes you people have to separate you from the “masses”.  It looked like a public service film from the 1950s to show schoolchildren how Americans visit “their” government houses.  We are a nation of laws and those who break them must be held accountable. We are supposed to be a nation of laws, but we are not a police state where an officer is allowed to shoot someone in cold blood, we are not a soviet system where a citizen is assumed to be a lawbreaker or a vandal.  We have a Bill of Rights, enacted by your betters, which is supposed to guarantee that anyone who is accused is given a fair hearing.  So far we have had no fair hearing for Ashlee Babbitt.  It is against our laws to shoot someone in cold blood.  The lawbreaker here was Mr. Michael Byrd.  The American people are entitled to hear what he has to say in his defense, the reason why he hid behind a door when he shot, why he did not give any warning to Ms Babbitt or others in the way of his bullets, why he left the scene instead of securing it.  There was plenty of police backup.  There was never a need to shoot.  No one else’s life was being endangered.  Ms Babbitt was unarmed.  Is this what you call law enforcement?  Whether it's in Washington DC or Minneapolis, MN, there is no excuse for breaking the law or disrespecting the law enforcement officers who serve and protect on our behalf.  Mr Byrd cannot claim to be serving and protecting anyone.  He apparently caused harm.  He allegedly committed an act of violence against an American citizen, who, by the way, was a veteran and a patriot who was doing all in her power to stop the violence she saw on the part of these government agents provocateurs.  

       Again, thank you for contacting me. Please know I value your input as I serve you in the United States Senate.  You should not be serving in the US Senate or in any other capacity where your support of our Constitution were to be assumed.   You call this a “response”, but my “concern” was that you did not respect Babbitt’s right to a presumption of innocence.  I asked you to apologize for the defamatory comments you made on the radio regarding Ms Babbitt and for expressing thanks to the man who appears to have shot her in cold blood and then fled the scene, hiding his identity as well as his employer’s identity.  I would expect an upstanding man to have the character to accept when he has made a mistake, not to double down on his offensive comments.  I am deeply concerned that you do not seem to understand our form of government, that you seem not to believe in our Constitution or in our Bill of Rights.  I am not “concerned” that lawbreakers should be tolerated, which seems to be your reading of my communication with you.  I am “concerned” that you feel free to jump to conclusions and publicly smear other people without getting the facts first, and then when you do get the facts which do not support your statement, you fail to correct it and apologize. This is my concern.  We all make mistakes at some time or another.  A decent person who finds that the evidence does not support his conclusion tries to make amends, however.  You are not a decent person, certainly not any kind of “patriot” and you have no business seeking support to remain in the US Senate.  Someone who stands for public office, especially the high office of US Senator, has an even greater duty to wait for evidence before condemning someone or accusing him of a crime.  You failed miserably in this and you apparently have no regret for this.  You publicly smeared an innocent person, an American veteran and patriot, you also smeared the peaceful protesters who gathered to show support for a president, implying that they were lawless, that they were “rioting”.  A time is coming when all those who have been lying to the people will be called to account.  You should expect to be among them.  Let us hope that North Dakota will do better in 2024.  You are a disgrace to the Senate and to North Dakota and an embarrassment to those who have supported you.  To receive the most up-to-date information on my positions, I encourage you to sign up for my email newsletter at cramer.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Michael Byrd has the right to a fair hearing.  Ashli Babbitt's family has a right to a fair hearing, the American people have a right to see justice done in this incident, a pivotal one in our history.  The assumption of innocence is proper for all concerned; however, this has been ignored in what looks like a corrupt and cynical cover-up.  Either Mr. Cramer is a dupe or he is part of the corruption.  He could have - and should have - declined to characterize either one of these two people.  Let the evidence come out as fully and as quickly as possible.  This is like a festering wound in the American psyche.  The only remedy is truth.  Hiding that truth - or denying it - will only worsen the infection.  --SM

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