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The Air Force will grant full military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran fatally shot by police during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protest, reversing an earlier decision by the Biden administration.
Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that petitioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in July, released a letter from Air Force Undersecretary Matthew Lohmeier dated Aug. 15. In it, Lohmeier overturned the denial issued shortly after Babbitt’s death.
“I understand that the family’s initial request was denied by Air Force leadership in a letter dated February 9, 2021,” Lohmeier wrote. “However, 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.”
Babbitt, 35, was fatally shot while attempting to climb through a broken window into the Speaker’s Lobby after rioters breached the Capitol. Her death quickly became a rallying point for supporters of President Donald Trump, who referred to her by name repeatedly during his 2024 campaign.
In a February 2021 letter to Babbitt’s husband, Aaron, Air Force Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly denied the request for funeral honors, writing that she had “illegally entered” the Capitol. “As a result, I have determined that military funeral honors would bring discredit upon the Air Force,” Kelly wrote at the time.
Military funeral honors include an honor guard of at least two members of the armed forces, one representing the veteran’s branch. The ceremony typically features the playing of Taps and the folding and presentation of the American flag to the family. Veterans Affairs guidance states that Taps will be played by a bugler, if available, or by ceremonial bugle.
“Ashli Babbitt’s family is grateful to President Trump, Secretary Hegseth and Under Secretary Lohmeier for reversing the Biden Defense Department’s cruel decision to deny Ashli funeral honors as a distinguished veteran of the Air Force,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.
In May, the Trump administration agreed to pay approximately $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt to settle a wrongful death lawsuit, according to a report published by The Washington Post.
The settlement followed a lawsuit filed by Babbitt’s estate in early 2024 seeking $30 million in damages over her fatal shooting at the U.S. Capitol.
