A January 6 rioter who was shot dead by police after she stormed the US Capitol has been offered full military funeral honors by the Trump administration.
Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, 35, was among those who went to Washington to protest Donald Trump’s election defeat to Joe Biden in 2020.
She joined other rioters in attempting to gain access to the House chamber and was ultimately fired upon by officer Michael Byrd as she tried to climb through a broken window of a barricaded door.
She was cast as a martyr by MAGA and the right-wing fanbase, spurred by Trump’s decision to settle a $5million wrongful death lawsuit with Babbitt’s family. Byrd was cleared of any wrongdoing following an investigation into his actions.
Now, an Air Force spokesperson has confirmed she will be honored with full military funeral honors.
‘After reviewing the circumstances of SrA Babbitt’s death, the Air Force has offered Military Funeral Honors to SrA Babbitt’s family,’ the Air Force spokesperson said.
‘After reviewing the circumstances of Ashli’s death, and considering the information that has come forward since then, I am persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect.’
During the Biden era, the family’s request for such honors was denied.
During her tenure with the Air Force and the Air National Guard, Babbitt was deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.
In the request to reconsider the Biden administration’s decision, conservative legal group Judicial Watch noted Trump had since pardoned as many as 1,500 individuals charged or convicted of crimes relating to the January 6 riots.
‘It is impossible to reconcile Gen. Kelly’s denial of military funeral honors for Ashli Babbitt’ funeral with President Trump’s grant of clemency,’ the letter read.
‘[The] refusal to provide military funeral honors was part of the ‘grave national injustice’ that President Trump ended by granting clemency.
‘The ‘process of national reconciliation’ that began with presidential clemency demands a new determination granting military funeral honor for Ashli and her family.’
Babbitt’s husband and mother have been invited to the Pentagon to meet Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier, who has signed off on the special funeral procedure.
A military funeral must include an honor guard detail, the presentation of the U.S. burial flag, and the playing of Taps.
Babbitt’s husband, Aaron Babbitt, filed a $30 million suit accusing the government of ‘wrongful death, assault and battery and various negligence issues.’
The suit said she was unarmed and ‘her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Byrd and other officers in the Speaker’s lobby’.
Five people died during or immediately after the riot, including Babbitt and Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was among those battling the MAGA mob.
Trump has described Babbitt’s shooting as a ‘murder’ and has described Babbitt as an innocent victim in interviews.
‘I’m a big fan of Ashli Babbitt, OK, and Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan, and she was innocently standing there — they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd,’ he told Newsmax in March.
‘And a man did something unthinkable to her when he shot her, and I think it’s a disgrace. I’m going to look into that.’