US offers military funeral honors to Jan. 6 rioter, Air Force vet Ashli Babbitt
FILE-Micki Witthoeft, mother of Ashli Babbitt, holds a photograph of her late daughter, who was killed in the January 6 insurrection, while talking on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via
The federal government is offering funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and the rioter who was killed by a Capitol Police officer in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In a statement obtained by the Associated Press, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson said that "after reviewing the circumstances" of Babbitt’s death, military funeral honors were offered to the family.
RELATED: Ashli Babbitt settlement: Trump administration agrees to pay family nearly $5M
Matthew Lohmeier, an under secretary of the Air Force, said on X that the decision was "long overdue," and shared a post from a conservative legal group that was advocating for Babbitt’s family.
The AP reported that the Trump administration agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit that Babbitt’s family filed over her shooting.
Who was Ashli Babbitt?
The backstory:
Ashli Babbitt was a U.S. Air Force veteran from San Diego. The 35-year-old was shot dead wearing a Trump campaign flag wrapped around her shoulders while attempting to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the Capitol.
RELATED: Capitol Riot: Nation’s capital marks 2 years since January 6 insurrection
On social media, Babbitt identified as a Libertarian and staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. Babbitt’s social posts included videos of tirades against Democrats, COVID-19 mask mandates and illegal immigration.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press, which cites comments in a statement from a U.S. Air Force spokesperson, and previous LIVENOW from FOX reporting. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.