Despite the fact that Ashli Babbitt attempted to climb through a shattered glass door inside the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers fled for their lives during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and ignored multiple commands to stand down before she was fatally shot, the U.S. Air Force has decided it will grant the deceased veteran a funeral replete with military honors.
Air Force Reverses Decision, to Grant Ashli Babbitt Military Funeral Honors. The controversial decision, announced August 15th by Under Secretary Matthew Lohmeier, overturns a Biden administration denial. This follows the January 6th, 2021 Capitol breach where Babbitt, a US Air Force veteran, was fatally shot while attempting to enter the Capitol building. The reversal comes despite previous concerns that honoring Babbitt would discredit the Air Force
But after “reviewing the circumstances of Ashli’s death and considering the information that has come forward since then,” Lohmeier said he was “persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect.”
The circumstances of Babbit’s death have not changed since she was fatally shot by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd inside the Speaker’s Lobby. Byrd was extensively investigated by the Justice Department as well as the Capitol Police force and cleared of any wrongdoing in August 2021. Byrd told news outlets after he was cleared that when he saw Babbitt coming through the hole in the Speaker’s Lobby door, he couldn’t tell whether she was armed.
Though she was not armed, she was wearing a backpack and, with lawmakers and staff fleeing behind him and rioters pouring in and threatening to overwhelm him at any moment, Byrd said he made a choice of “last resort” to protect Congress, staff, and other police inside the Capitol. Byrd said he made multiple requests for Babbitt to stand down and she refused.
“I tried to wait as long as I could. I hoped and prayed no one tried to enter through those doors, But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers,” Byrd told NBC News in 2021.
Babbitt’s family initially sought $30 million from the federal government in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2024. Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoeft, claimed her daughter “posed no threat to the safety of anyone” on Jan. 6 and that Byrd “ambushed” the 35-year-old veteran. A protracted legal battle over the settlement unfurled in the last year of President Joe Biden’s administration.
It was not until this May — months after President Trump indiscriminately pardoned over 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters, including those who viciously assaulted police — that the Justice Department announced it had reached a settlement with the Babbitt estate. Though it was far shy of the original $30 million requested, the Justice Department ended up doling out $5 million to the Babbitt family.
At minimum, military funeral honors, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, include the playing of taps and the folding and presenting of the American flag for the family by an honor guard, which usually features at least two members of the armed forces, one of whom must represent whatever branch the veteran served in.
News of Lohemier’s decision was reported first by Judicial Watch, an uber-conservative legal group that has represented the Babbitt family since her death and is run by Tom Fitton, a longtime conservative activist and avowed supporter of Trump. Fitton has been a vocal ally of Trump for years and promoted or pushed narratives about the 2020 election being rigged against Trump.
Babbitt, according to a review of her digital footprint by Bellingcat published in 2021, had openly embraced the QAnon movement as far back as February 2020. Adherents to QAnon believe the globe is controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles who have infiltrated American life, politics and the entertainment industry. Trump was considered a savior to QAnon believers as he openly embraced the group at rallies and in social media posts. Trump has doted on Babbitt since 2021. While calling for an investigation into her death, he posted a video wishing her a posthumous happy birthday and calling her an “incredible person” as well.
When Babbitt died, she had a Trump campaign flag wrapped around her shoulders like a cape.
Her Twitter account, which was taken down after her death, was littered with QAnon conspiracy theories, The Associated Press reported in 2021. A day before the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Babbitt warned that “nothing will stop us” and referenced a coming “storm.” In QAnon conspiracy theory lore, “the Storm” was to be a final, violent reckoning for so-called deep state pedophiles and their associates, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“They can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours.. Dark to light!” Babbitt wrote on Jan. 5.
Judicial Watch called the Biden administration’s decision not to honor Babbitt “cruel” in a statement Wednesday while heaping gratitude on Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Lohmeier for reversing the decision. The reversal letter shared by Judicial Watch on Wednesday also reveals that Lohmeier extended an invitation to the Babbitt family to join him at the Pentagon so he can express condolences personally.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who was on the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee, slammed the decision Thursday. Kinzinger served in the Air Force for years, including tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, and received numerous medals for his service.
“Ashley [sic] Babbitt dishonored her service by committing insurrection against her country. While her death is absolutely tragic and I wish it hadn’t happened, the Air Force giving her honors is in itself a dishonor,” Kinzinger wrote on Bluesky.
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The decision by the Air Force was equally offensive to some of the police who defended the Capitol, such as former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell. Gonnell was forced into early retirement because of the extensive injuries he received on Jan. 6.
“BETRAYED YET AGAIN BY MAGA elected officials that can’t muster the courage to honor with a plaque the J6 Officers who fulfilled their oath and duty while they ran in fear for their lives and from the mob she was part of,” Gonell wrote. “FU all cowers.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
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