(LifeSiteNews) — Reversing a Biden administration decision, the Air Force will grant full military funeral honors for Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol policeman during the January 6, 2021 protest.
The unarmed 35-year-old Air Force veteran and Trump supporter was struck down in what appeared to be a display of excessive force by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd as she attempted to climb through a broken window into the Speaker’s Lobby.
She was the only official Jan. 6 homicide victim.
Lt. Byrd reportedly failed to give Babbitt any warnings or commands before firing the shot that killed her. According to Judicial Watch, “Ashli never saw Lt. Byrd because he was hidden from her view. She was ambushed and defenseless. Multiple witnesses at the scene yelled, ‘you just murdered her.’”
Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier sent a letter addressed to Babbitt’s husband and mother, confirming the Air Force’s decision to reverse the Biden-era ruling. He wrote:
On behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force, I write to extend the offer for Military Funeral Honors for SA Ashli Babbitt. 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. Additionally, I would like to invite you and your family to meet me at the Pentagon to personally offer my condolences.
Lohmeier added a handwritten note in the margin, saying, “Please let me know what I can do to be of service.”
The newly appointed undersecretary received praise on social media for extending the offer for Military Funeral Honors for Babbitt.
“Thank you, Lord, for men of principle and moral courage like Matthew Lohmeier,” commentator Rob Green wrote. “Please guide his efforts to restore the US Air Force to its rightful place in Your service and in the service of our great Constitutional Republic.”
General Mike Flynn also thanked Lohmeier, noting that “There is no better example of how a leader is suppose to act, than right here in this letter.”
“May Ashli Babbitt now Rest In Peace and her family gain some measure of solace for the wonderful person she was and the light of truth she brought to each of us,” Flynn prayed.
There is no better example of how a leader is suppose to act, than right here in this letter.
Thank you @matthewlohmeier
May Ashli Babbitt now Rest In Peace and her family gain some measure of solace for the wonderful person she was and the light of truth she brought to each… https://t.co/t8oTEoVayA
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) August 28, 2025
The Air Force’s decision came after Judicial Watch senior counsel Robert Patrick Sticht wrote a six-page letter last month to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
“I am writing to urge you to make a new determination granting military funeral honors for SrA Ashli Elizabeth Pamatian, aka Ashli Elizabeth McEntee, and Ashli Elizabeth Babbitt, a War on Terror veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard,” Sticht wrote.
“Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 by U.S. Capitol Police It. Michael Byrd. Military funeral honors were denied for Ashli’s funeral service by Lt. Gen. Brian T. Kelly, USAF (Ret.) on February 9, 2021. Gen. Kelly’s letter to Ashli’s family stated that his denial was due to ‘the circumstances preceding her death,’” explained the judicial Watch senior counsel, noting that Gen. Kelly had “expressly left open the possibility for a new and different determination to be made.
“Ashli 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 president Tom Fitton said. “Judicial Watch’s team spent years investigating, litigating, and exposing the truth about Ashli’s homicide. 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.”
