The U.S. Air Force has agreed to provide military funeral honors for January 6 protester Ashli Babbitt. The decision reverses a 2021 Biden-era decision that denied the request.
A letter from Air Force Undersecretary Matthew Lohmeier, released on Aug. 27 by Judicial Watch, read, “I understand that the family’s initial request was denied by Air Force leadership in a letter dated February 9, 2021. However, 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.”
Lohmeier then invited the family to visit the Pentagon, where he could offer his condolences.
In 2021, Biden-era Air Force Lieutenant General Brian Kelly denied funeral honors for Babbitt “due to the circumstances preceding her death.”
“As a result, I have determined that military funeral honors would bring discredit upon the Air Force,” Kelly wrote.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement that Babbitt’s family is “grateful to President Trump, Secretary Hegseth and Under Secretary Lohmeier for reversing the Biden Defense Department’s cruel decision to deny Ashli funeral honors as a distinguished veteran of the Air Force.”
“Judicial Watch’s team spent years investigating, litigating, and exposing the truth about Ashli’s homicide,” he said. “Judicial Watch is proud to have done its part in bringing her family a measure of justice and accountability for Ashli’s outrageous killing. And our battle for justice will continue.”
In May, the Trump administration agreed to pay nearly $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Babbitt’s family.
