The U.S. Air Force announced that Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran killed by a Capitol Police officer on January 6, 2021, will be provided with full military funeral honors.
Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier informed the Babbitt family of the decision in an August 15 letter, later shared on social media, CNN reported.
Lohmeier told the family that while the request for full honors was denied under the Biden Administration, “I am persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect.”
“[A]fter 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 wrote.
“Additionally, I would like to invite you and your family to meet me at the Pentagon to personally offer my condolences.”
A Department of the Air Force spokesperson confirmed the letter’s authenticity to CNN.
“After reviewing the circumstances of [Senior Airman] Babbitt’s death, the Air Force has offered Military Funeral Honors to [Senior Airman] Babbitt’s family,” the spokesperson said.
Babbitt was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd as she attempted to crawl through a broken window during the Capitol protests.
Byrd did not give a verbal warning before firing a single round that struck her in the neck.
Other Capitol Police officers in riot gear were just behind Babbitt and were about to secure the area when the fatal shot was fired.
Byrd had a lengthy disciplinary record prior to the incident. He fired his weapon at a stolen car in a residential neighborhood in 2004, faced a conduct complaint in 2005 with racial undertones, and failed a background check when purchasing a shotgun after the Babbitt shooting.
He also received a 33-day suspension in 2019 for leaving his loaded service weapon unattended in a Capitol Hill bathroom.
Byrd was cleared of wrongdoing by the Biden administration after what critics said was a rushed investigation. He was later given a primetime NBC interview and hailed as a hero by prominent Democrats.
Ashli Babbitt served in the Air Force from 2004 to 2008 and later in the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard until 2016.
She deployed to Afghanistan in 2005, Iraq in 2006, and the United Arab Emirates in 2012 and 2014.
Nearly four and a half years after Byrd shot Babbitt during the breach of the U.S. Capitol, her husband, Aaron Babbitt, signed a settlement agreement on June 6 to resolve his $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the federal government.
The settlement includes a payout of $4.975 million, though other terms were not immediately disclosed, The Blaze reported.
“This fair settlement is a historic and necessary step for justice for Ashli Babbitt’s family. Ashli should never have been killed, and this settlement destroys the evil, partisan narrative that justified her outrageous killing and protected her killer,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Twenty-five percent of the settlement will be placed in a trust account pending the outcome of a potential claim by Ashli’s former attorney, Terrell N. Roberts III. Earlier this year, Roberts filed a motion to intervene in the case, asserting that he is entitled to 40% of any settlement awarded.
Roberts ended his professional relationship with Aaron Babbitt in early 2022. Babbitt’s Washington-based attorney, Richard Driscoll, has since requested that the dispute be resolved through the Attorney/Client Arbitration Board of the D.C. Bar.
While the federal government did not admit liability as part of the settlement, the agreement is seen by some as a tacit acknowledgment by the Department of Justice that Byrd acted recklessly and used excessive force when he emerged from a concealed position near the House Speaker’s Lobby and fatally shot Babbitt.
