The Air Force will extend military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran shot and killed by a security officer as she climbed through a broken window during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Babbitt served 5 years on active duty in the Air Force and several years in the Air National Guard, a service record that entitled her to a basic level of funeral military honors under federal law, including a folded flag presented to next of kin and a bugler to play Taps. But a request from her family for those honors at her 2021 funeral was denied by then-Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, the deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services.
But Undersecretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier overturned that decision earlier this month. In a letter to Babbitt’s family released by lawyers with Judicial Watch who supported her appeal, Lohmeier wrote that “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.”
In 2021, Kelly disallowed those honors, noting in a letter to Babbitt’s family that she “was fatally shot after having illegally entered the United States Capitol Building on 6 January 2021. As a result. I have determined that military funeral honors would bring discredit upon the Air Force.”
Kelly cited a federal law that allows military officials to strip funeral rights from otherwise-eligible members “whose circumstances of death would bring discredit to their service, even if they have an honorable discharge.”
Robert Sticht, a lawyer with Judicial Watch who spearheaded efforts by Babbitt’s family to overturn the 2021 decision, said no decision has been made on a ceremony or other plans around the restored funeral honors. “They are a work in progress,” Sticht told Task & Purpose in an email response Thursday night.
Military Funeral Honors
Military funeral honors are guaranteed to nearly all veterans, with the details of those honors dependent on the rank and time in service of the veteran. An Air Force official confirmed to Task & Purpose that as a fairly junior former enlisted airmen, Babbitt would be eligible for at least three elements of military honors: a color guard made up of at least two active military members, one of which would be from her former service; her next of kin would be presented a folded flag; a bugler would play Taps.
Babbitt, who left the Air National Guard as a senior airman, would likely not be eligible for so-called “full military honors,” which could include marching elements, a band and even a horse-drawn caisson if performed at Arlington National Cemetery. Full military honors are offered to enlisted members who reach the E-9 pay grade, senior warrant officers, and officers who reach the grade of O-4 and above. The honors include several levels of firing parties and escorts, depending on rank.
Babbitt was one of thousands of rioters who gathered on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to stop the constitutional certification of President Joe Biden’s election. Babbitt was killed by a security officer as she climbed through a broken window of a locked door that was the final physical barrier between rioters and the floor of the House of Representatives, where elected members were in hiding from the mob.
Hundreds of the rioters subsequently were convicted or pleaded guilty to charges in the wake of the riot, which also killed a police officer. All, including Babbitt, were pardoned or received clemency by President Donald Trump within days of returning to the presidency in January.
Judicial Watch, the law firm that led Babbitt’s appeal, cited Trump’s pardons and clemencies around the riot as a reason that Kelly’s decision to strip Babbitt of funeral honors should be reversed.
UPDATE: 8/29/2025; This article has been updated with a comment from Robert Sticht of Judicial Watch on family plans for Babbitt’s funeral honors.
