Air Force offers full funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt after review

The U.S. Air Force has offered full military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the department confirmed. In an August 15 letter to Babbitt’s husband and mother, Undersecretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier wrote that, after reviewing the circumstances of her death and information that has emerged since, he was persuaded the previous determination denying honors was incorrect and extended the offer on behalf of the secretary.

Babbitt, 35, was shot by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd as she attempted to climb through a broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby during the Jan. 6 attack. Byrd was later cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Department of Justice and by Capitol Police; internal reviews questioned aspects of training, and he was subsequently promoted, according to official accounts. The Air Force initially declined the family’s request for honors in February 2021, with then Air Force Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly saying he had determined military funeral honors would bring discredit upon the Air Force.

The decision to extend honors comes after years of...