U.S. Air Force To Grant Military Honors To Ashli Babbitt

Ashli Babbitt is finally getting the honor she deserves.

The U.S. Air Force has announced it will give military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the Trump supporter who a Capitol police officer killed on January 6th.

Under the Biden administration, Babbitt was refused military funeral honors.

The US Air Force will provide full military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the veteran who was fatally shot during the J6 protests.

The decision overturns the Biden-era denial, which claimed that honoring Babbitt would “bring discredit upon the Air Force.”

Under Secretary… pic.twitter.com/UFRo5QQzNu

— AF Post (@AFpost) August 28, 2025

The Guardian reported more details on the Air Force’s decision:

The US air force will provide military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the rioter fatally shot during the January 6 Capitol attack, marking another step in Donald Trump’s aggressive rehabilitation of the attack.

The under secretary of the air force, Matthew Lohmeier, confirmed the decision in an August letter to Babbitt’s family. The Biden administration previously denied Babbitt the honors, but Lohmeier said he was “persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect” after reviewing new information about her death.

Babbitt, 35, served in the air force and air national guard and was shot by Capitol Hill police as she climbed through a barricaded door near the House chamber in the mass frenzy to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. The air force had originally refused honors in February 2021, according to Lohmeier’s letter, saying they would “bring discredit upon the Air Force” due to the circumstances of her death. She was the only person killed by gunfire during the riot.

The announcement, made public Wednesday by conservative legal group Judicial Watch, follows a nearly $5m wrongful death settlement the government paid Babbitt’s family in July.

Trump has systematically worked to reframe January 6 since returning to office. On his first day back, he pardoned approximately 1,500 defendants connected to the riot, calling their prosecutions “a grave national injustice”. The pardons covered nearly all those jailed or awaiting trial, including extremist group leaders sentenced for seditious conspiracy.

There is no better example of how a leader is suppose to act, than right here in this letter.

Thank you @matthewlohmeier

May Ashli Babbitt now Rest In Peace and her family gain some measure of solace for the wonderful person she was and the light of truth she brought to each… https://t.co/t8oTEoVayA

— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) August 28, 2025

Previously, Babbitt’s family sued the U.S. government in a wrongful death lawsuit.

The Biden administration attempted to fight the claim, but the Trump administration settled with Babbitt’s family.

AP reported more details on the lawsuit:

The Trump administration has agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit that Ashli Babbitt’s family filed over her shooting by an officer during the U.S. Capitol riot, according to a person with knowledge of the settlement. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss with The Associated Press terms of a settlement that have not been made public.

The settlement would resolve the $30 million federal lawsuit that Babbitt’s estate filed last year in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 6, 2021, a Capitol police officer shot Babbitt as she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby.

The officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer.

Settlement terms haven’t been disclosed in public court filings. On May 2, lawyers for Babbitt’s estate and the Justice Department told a federal judge that they had reached a settlement in principle but were still working out the details before a final agreement could be signed.