Ashli Babbitt to get military funeral honors despite Jan. 6 riot, as Air Force undoes Biden-team dec

The Air Force will extend full military funeral honors for Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force and National Guard veteran who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, according to Judicial Watch.

Undersecretary of the Air Force Matthew L. Lohmeier confirmed the decision to grant her the funeral honors in an Aug. 15 letter to her husband and mother, the legal advocacy group said Wednesday in a statement.

“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,” Mr. Lohmeier wrote.

Police accused her of trying to climb through a shattered window beside a barricaded door into the Speaker’s Lobby. 

Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd then opened fire, striking Babbitt in the left shoulder. She was taken to MedStar Washington Hospital Center where she died.

Babbitt was the only official homicide on Jan. 6. She was denied military funeral honors because of her actions at the U.S. Capitol.

“Ashli, age 35, was unarmed when she was fatally shot. She stood 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 115 pounds. Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. [Michael] Byrd and four armed officers behind him,” according to a letter that a Judicial Watch attorney sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

In April 2021, the Justice Department during the Biden administration declined to pursue criminal charges against the officer. He was also cleared by the Metropolitan Police Department’s internal affairs division.

“Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution,” the Justice Department said in a statement then. 

The decision to reverse the Biden administration’s denial of military honors for Babbitt comes in the wake of a $5 million settlement to her family for wrongful death and other claims against the U.S. government.