Trump reignites Jan. 6 furor by awarding military honors to killed rioter

By extending military honors to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran shot and killed by police as she breached a restricted area during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the White House is not simply paying respect to a veteran. Babbitt will receive military funeral honors nearly six years after her death became a rallying cry for MAGA faithful. Consequently, President Donald Trump is continuing a years-long effort to reframe Jan. 6 participants as patriotic heroes maligned by the previous administration. In doing so, Trump is delivering on the historical revisionism he promised on the 2024 campaign trail.

'The previous determination was incorrect'

Providing military funeral honors for Babbitt is "long overdue," said Air Force Undersecretary Matt Lohmeier on X. In 2021, then-Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, Air Force deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, denied a request from Babbitt's family for similar honors in a letter citing the "circumstances preceding her death." However, after reviewing those circumstances and additional unspecified information that has "come forward since then, I am persuaded that the previous determination was incorrect," Lohmeier said in an Aug. 15 message to the Babbitt family notifying them of the reversal. Lohmeier is a former Space Force officer fired for claiming that "Marxism was rampant in the ranks of the military," said Military.com.

The undersecretary also invited the Babbit family to visit the Pentagon so he could "personally offer my condolences." The decision "comes on the heels of a wrongful death settlement" that saw the government agree to a nearly $5 million payout for the Babbitt family, said Fox News.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Babbitt and her death have "continued to be a focal point" for the president and various conservative lawmakers and activists who have "organized to support the Jan. 6 rioters," said The Washington Post. Trump has cast Babbitt as a "martyr" in his "broader push to rewrite the history" of the "violent effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election."

Trump is working to reframe the day as a "patriotic stand, given he still denies he lost that election," said The Associated Press. Judicial Watch, the conservative legal advocacy group that represents the Babbitt family, "cited Trump's pardons and clemencies" of 1,500 insurrection participants as one reason why the Biden administration's decision should be reversed, said Task and Purpose.

Critics contend that the granting of military honors in particular represents a "broader shift" in Trump's effort, said Newsweek. By taking a "step further" beyond his previous overtures, the president is both "legitimizing the actions of the rioters" and "blurring the line between service to the country and an assault on democratic institutions."

Indefensible or true leadership?

Babbitt's death, cleared by federal prosecutors, is "absolutely tragic," said former GOP congressman and Air National Guard Lt. Colonel Adam Kinzinger on X. "I wish it hadn't happened." But given that she "dishonored her service by committing insurrection," Babbitt being awarded funeral honors is "in itself a dishonor."

There is "no better example of how a leader is supposed to act" than in Lohmeier's letter to the Babbitt family, said former National Security Adviser and Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) to Fox News. Military funeral honors vary based on rank, but "typically involve the playing of 'Taps' and the folding and presentation of the American flag to the next of kin by at least two uniformed service members," said Military.com.