U.S. Air Force Reverses Course, Grants Funeral Honors to Ashli Babbitt

WASHINGTON (August 28, 2025) - The U.S. Air Force has agreed to provide full military funeral honors for Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran who was shot and killed during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, reversing a 2021 decision under the Biden administration that had denied such honors.

In a letter dated Aug. 15, Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier acknowledged that the initial February 9, 2021, determination-declining military honors for Babbitt-was “mistaken” in light of “new information” that has since come to light. Lohmeier invited Babbitt’s mother and husband to the Pentagon to receive his personal condolences and to oversee arrangements for the honors ceremony.

Under Department of Veterans Affairs guidelines, eligible veterans are entitled to a detail of at least two service members-one representing their branch-to perform rites including the folding and presentation of the American flag and the playing of “Taps.” The Air Force’s agreement restores these privileges for Babbitt, a 35-year-old veteran who served 12 years in active duty and the Air National Guard.

The decision follows a nearly $5 million settlement reached in May between the federal government and Babbitt’s family over a wrongful-death lawsuit, which many allies of former President Donald Trump hailed as a step toward justice for what they characterized as her “martyrdom”. Judicial Watch, the conservative legal group representing Babbitt’s estate, praised the Pentagon’s reversal, thanking President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and Under Secretary Lohmeier for overturning what it called a “cruel decision” by the previous administration.