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San Diego, California – The U.S. Air Force will grant full military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the 35-year-old Air Force veteran who was fatally shot during the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach.
The decision reverses a 2021 ruling by the Biden administration, which denied Babbitt’s family’s initial request. In an August 15 letter, Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew L. Lohmeier informed Babbitt’s mother and widower that, after reviewing the case and “considering the information that has come forward since then,” he had concluded the earlier denial was “incorrect.”
Babbitt, who at one point lived in Ocean Beach, California, was attempting to climb through a shattered window leading to the Speaker’s Lobby when she was shot by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. The Department of Justice later determined Byrd would not face criminal charges, and the Capitol Police cleared him of internal discipline, saying his actions protected members of Congress.
The reversal comes just months after the federal government settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Babbitt’s family for nearly $5 million. Her family had originally sought $30 million, arguing she was “ambushed” without warning. Judicial Watch, the conservative legal group that represented Babbitt’s family, announced the Air Force’s reversal. Its president, Tom Fitton, thanked President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Lohmeier for “reversing the Biden Defense Department’s cruel decision to deny Ashli funeral honors as a distinguished veteran.”
An Air Force veteran, Babbitt enlisted in 2004 and served multiple tours overseas, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her death made her one of the most high-profile casualties of January 6, when rioters stormed the Capitol seeking to block certification of the 2020 election results.
Under Defense Department rules, eligible veterans receive an honor guard detail composed of at least two service members, one from the veteran’s branch, as well as the playing of taps and the ceremonial folding and presentation of the flag to the family.
In May, Trump pardoned nearly all remaining January 6 defendants on his first day back in office. His administration has also dismissed many of the prosecutors who worked on riot-related cases, part of a broader rollback of Biden-era responses to the attack.
