The MAGA fanatic fatally shot by police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, will receive a funeral with full military honors—a reversal made possible by an appointee of President Donald Trump.
Loved ones of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot as she crawled through a smashed window toward a U.S. Capitol Police officer, successfully lobbied the branch to reverse its years-old decision.
“After reviewing the circumstances of SrA Babbitt’s death, the Air Force has offered Military Funeral Honors to SrA Babbitt’s family,” an Air Force spokesperson told NBC News.
Babbitt, a retired senior airman, was 35 at the time of her death. Her family, along with many in MAGA, have contended that she was murdered by Lt. Michael Byrd, who fired a shot at her in self-defense as he tried to fend off a mob of Trump supporters.
Byrd was quickly cleared of wrongdoing. As such, then-Air Force Lieutenant General Brian Kelly said the circumstances of Babbitt’s death—storming the U.S. Capitol in protest of election results—meant that a military funeral would “bring discredit upon the Air Force” in a 2021 letter.
The decision was undone by Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier who was appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in July.
Lohmeier reportedly wrote a letter to the Babbitt family, informing them that he disagreed with the previous administration’s decision and was reversing it.
“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,” Lohmeier wrote, according to CNN. “Additionally, I would like to invite you and your family to meet me at the Pentagon to personally offer my condolences.”
It is unclear when Babbitt’s family will hold the military funeral. Such ceremonies typically include a uniformed detail at the funeral, the playing of “Taps,” and the folding and presentation of a U.S. flag.
The Air Force’s decision comes three months after the Trump administration settled a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by Babbitt’s loved ones for $5 million.
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