U.S. Government Grants Military Funeral Honors to Ashli Babbitt Amid Controversy Over Capitol Riot Legacy

The U.S. government has officially awarded military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, a U.S. Air Force veteran who was killed by a gunshot wound during the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Babbitt, 35, was killed when she attempted to break through a barricaded area near the Speaker's Lobby. She became a politicized icon in the political discourse of the insurrection.

After years of dispute and a previously denied petition, in August 2025 the Air Force did an about-face on its decision, following a re-examination of the circumstances surrounding Babbitt's death. In a letter to Babbitt's family, Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier stated the earlier denial "incorrect" and invited the family to come to the Pentagon.

The Trump government, which has never painted the Capitol riot in any other light than a patriotic protest, accepted nearly $5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Babbitt's family. The lawsuit charged the Capitol Police with negligence and excessive force.

Babbitt was deployed multiple times overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the UAE. Her co-belligerents have held her in high esteem as a martyr for years, but in critics' views, memorializing her trivializes the gravity of the Capitol attack.

The granting of military honors has revived new controversy regarding how the U.S. government is to recognize those who participated in the January 6 actions. It also indicates broader efforts by political figures to reshape public memory of the riot.