January 6th, 2021, will forever be an infamous day in American history. Thousands of obsequious Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. in hopes of destroying democracy and supplanting it with an autocratic orangeman who had just lost an election fair and square. People were so blinded by their loyalty to this man that they were willing to inflict violence on police officers (who they spent the previous year claiming to support) and politicians, including Vice President Mike Pence, who were unwilling to usurp the Constitution just to appease a sore loser. It was sad, pathetic, and terrifying. Several people lost their lives in the chaos, but none of their names are as remembered as that of Ashli Babbitt. Babbitt was shot dead by a Capitol Police officer as she and several other MAGA bootlickers attempted to breach the floor of Congress. She was treated like anyone else would be under the circumstances. Her death is of her own doing. She is not a hero. She is not a victim. She is a violent criminal who chose her fate.
Babbitt’s family requested that she be given a military funeral as she was an Air Force veteran, but that request was denied under the Biden administration. It should come as no surprise that under the Trump administration, miraculously, that request was reconsidered and granted by Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Lohmeier, according to new reporting from CNN.
“[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 said. “Additionally, I would like to invite you and your family to meet me at the Pentagon to personally offer my condolences.”
Lt. Michael Byrd, who killed Babbitt, was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.
