US Politics
Senator seeks to block military funeral honors for pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt killed on January 6
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An Arizona senator has sought to block military funeral honors for pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt, who was killed on January 6, 2021, when she stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran, was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer when she tried to climb through a broken window to get to the Speaker’s Lobby. The officer was not charged in the shooting.
Late last month, the Air Force announced Babbitt would receive military funeral honors after that type of service was reportedly denied under the Biden administration.
But Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, a Marine vet who was inside the Capitol during the January 6 riot, is expected to introduce a resolution to block the military funeral honors on Wednesday, CNN reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
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Gallego wrote on X after news broke that Babbitt would receive military funeral honors, “I served in combat with 23 Marines that died for their country and deserved full military honors. Ashli Babbit deserves nothing, certainly not full military honors.”
The senator’s resolution states, per CNN, Babbitt’s actions on January 6 “constitute disqualifying conduct.”
The Senate “rejects efforts to glorify or legitimize the actions of those who sought to overturn the Constitution of the United States,” according to the resolution.
But it’s very unlikely the resolution will pass in the Republican-controlled Senate.
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Trump — who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him after former President Joe Biden’s victory, leading the rioters to try and fail to overturn the results — has been sympathetic to Babbitt’s family and other January 6 rioters.
When he returned to office, the Trump administration agreed to pay Babbitt’s family nearly $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit. Trump also pardoned about 1,500 people charged or convicted of crimes relating to the Capitol riot.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group who pushed to get Babbitt military funeral honors, said in a statement late last month, “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.”
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