The union leader of the U.S. Capitol police is blasting the department following a bombshell report about Capt. Michael Byrd, the officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, 2021. 

The union boss, U.S. Capitol Police union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou, did so in a statement that he released on Thursday to Just the News.

This statement, as we will see, came after a report that revealed that Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives pressured the Capitol Police Department to show favoritism to Byrd.

Byrd has received tremendous criticism - that continues up until this day - for his fatal shooting of Babbitt.

Background

Before we get to Papathanasiou's statement, we will look at the report that precipitated it.

Just the News reported:

House Democrats pressured U.S. Capitol Police to provide special financial assistance and even a promotion to the officer who fatally shot unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer and charitable assistance not provided to other officers . . .

The outlet obtained the information for this report from internal emails that it managed to get access to. Among those Democrats named were then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's staff and from then-Majority Leader Steny Hoye.

It appears that the favoritism came after Byrd complained about the way he was being treated.

The outlet reported:

The records show that pressure also came from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's staff and from then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, causing Capitol Police to find any solution they could to make Byrd and Democrats happy. Despite the extraordinary assistance, Byrd expressed dissatisfaction and continued to insist he deserved more, to the chagrin of Capitol Police officials, according to records assembled by Congress.

"Slap in the face"

Papathanasiou responded to this report in a statement that he released on Thursday.

"What a slap in the face to the rank and file officers of the USCP, especially all who were on duty on J6," he said.

Just the News notes that Byrd received far more assistance than any other officer who worked on Jan. 6, 2021, and he argued that Byrd should be forced to pay the excess back.

"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," Papathanasiou.

Byrd, for his part, has remained silent as these reports have been released.