{"id":226633,"date":"2025-09-11T10:47:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=226633"},"modified":"2025-09-16T11:16:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:16:50","slug":"cronkite-news-military-honors-allowed-for-rioter-killed-at-u-s-capitol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/09\/11\/cronkite-news-military-honors-allowed-for-rioter-killed-at-u-s-capitol\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Military honors allowed for rioter killed at U.S. Capitol"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_bkKLPvrT2g?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona): <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/_bkKLPvrT2g>Senator Gallego Speaks on Resolution to Block Ashli Babbitt from Military Funeral Honors<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Sen. Ruben Gallego calls January 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt a \u2018traitor\u2019 in failed bid to block military funeral honors<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, September 11, 2025<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Nick Karmia<\/div>\r\n<DIV class=source>Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n<DIV class=source-website><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Sen. Ruben Gallego tried but failed Wednesday to block military funeral honors for Ashli Babbitt, the January 6 rioter killed by police keeping the mob out of the U.S. House.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cShe didn\u2019t die protecting our country, she died trying to tear it down,\u201d the Arizona Democrat said during a floor speech, recalling the hours he and other lawmakers spent in hiding during the siege. \u201cShe wasn\u2019t a martyr, she was and is a traitor.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nGallego, a Marine veteran, said the Air Force veteran forfeited the privilege of military honors by storming the Capitol and joining the attempt to derail certification of the 2020 election.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nBabbitt has become an icon for Trump supporters since the riot on January 6, 2021, and Republicans quashed Gallego\u2019s effort without a roll call vote that he sought in hopes of forcing them to go on record about her legacy.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nPresident Joe Biden\u2019s administration rejected the Babbitt family\u2019s request for a military funeral and fought a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nBy contrast, President Donald Trump has depicted Babbitt as a \u201cpatriot,\u201d denouncing her death as a murder and the officer who shot her as a \u201cthug.\u201d The Justice Department and the Capitol Police both cleared the officer of any wrongdoing.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/video\/capitol-shooting-that-led-to-ashli-babbitt-s-death-captured-on-video-99180613572\">Footage captured the confrontation between Babbitt and other rioters<\/a> at the doors to the Speaker\u2019s Lobby just off the House floor. An officer shot her as she tried to crawl through a smashed window. Steps away, House members were fleeing for safety.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nIn May, the Trump Justice Department agreed to a $5 million settlement with the family.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nOn his first day back in office in January, Trump pardoned or issued clemency to more than 1,500 people charged with or convicted of crimes related to the riot, including those who had brutally attacked police. The highest profile Arizonan pardoned was <a href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2025\/01\/23\/qanon-shaman-arizona-rioters-donald-trump-pardon\/\">Jacob Chansley, the self-styled \u201cQAnon Shaman.\u201d<\/a>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nDemocrats viewed the pardons as outrageous.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nGallego <a href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2025\/07\/30\/ruben-gallego-target-gop-tax-cut-supporters\/\">has fueled speculation<\/a> that he\u2019s eyeing a 2028 White House bid with recent visits to Iowa and New Hampshire. He used a debate over the Pentagon budget to put a spotlight on the Babbitt case.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cI remember hearing the pounding on the doors of the House chamber \u2013 seeing my colleagues barricading the doors with furniture to stop the insurrectionists from breaking in and disturbing and stopping democracy\u2019s day,\u201d he said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nGallego spent five terms in the House before winning his Senate seat last November.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nBoth he and Babbitt served in Iraq.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nBabbitt, from California, spent 14 years on active duty or in the Air National Guard and also deployed to Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cMilitary honors are sacred,\u201d Gallego said. \u201cTo give them to Babbitt would be a spit in the face to \u2026 every veteran who died defending this country.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nSen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., objected to Gallego\u2019s resolution. That was enough to kill it, because Gallego had sought approval through a procedure that requires unanimous consent.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThis resolution is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to strip away the earned honors of a veteran who deployed seven times during her many years in the United States Air Force,\u201d Tuberville said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe Air Force announced August 28 that it had reversed the Biden-era refusal of military funeral honors.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nIn a letter to the Babbitt family, Undersecretary Matthew Lohmeier said the initial decision had been \u201cincorrect.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nTuberville cited the $5 million settlement and Babbitt\u2019s lack of a criminal background as evidence she shouldn\u2019t have been stripped of military funeral honors.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIn case my colleague is unaware of this, the Constitution still applies, even to those you disagree with politically,\u201d he said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nGallego recounted that Babbitt entered the Capitol carrying a folding knife, arguing that her actions that day were both illegal and a violation of her military oath to uphold the Constitution.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIf we equate the January 6 insurrection with genuine sacrifice, then we cheapen everything our servicemembers have fought and died for,\u201d he said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2021\/01\/07\/us\/elections\/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html\">Four Arizona Republicans in the House<\/a> voted against the certification of Biden\u2019s victory. Three are still in office: Reps. Andy Biggs of Gilbert and Paul Gosar of Bullhead City voted to reject the results in both Arizona and Pennsylvania. Rep. David Schweikert of Fountain Hills voted to reject only Pennsylvania\u2019s results. (Debbie Lesko of Peoria didn\u2019t seek reelection last year.)\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nDuring the January 6 proceedings, Gosar announced a challenge to the Arizona slate on behalf of more than 50 House Republicans. Hours later &#8212; after the mob had swarmed the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to evacuate &#8212; the House voted 303-121 to accept the Arizona electors. The Senate vote was 93-6.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nRecords from the House January 6 investigation showed that Biggs and Gosar joined a December 21, 2020, White House strategy session to discuss ways for Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of Biden\u2019s win. Pence refused.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<STRONG>For more stories from Cronkite News, visit <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=client\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<HR><EM>Note: This story originally <a href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2025\/09\/10\/ruben-gallego-calls-ashli-babbitt-traitor-failed-block-military-funeral-honors\/\">appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>.  It  is published via a <A href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/\">Creative  Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkite.asu.edu\/\">Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at <A href=\"https:\/\/www.asu.edu\">Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM><HR>\r\n<img src=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/19\/rubengallego-3.jpg width=0 height=0 class=invisible>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) tried to block military funeral honors for one of the insurrectionists who was killed at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1,14],"tags":[5366,4,1574,42,101,46,4714,346,2275,94,362,75,56,53,511,25,151,85,124,91,6756,57,569],"class_list":["post-226633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-119th","tag-4","tag-andy-biggs","tag-arizona","tag-crime","tag-cronkite-news","tag-david-schweikert","tag-dc","tag-debbie-lesko","tag-democrats","tag-doj","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-joe-biden","tag-law-enforcement","tag-military","tag-paul-gosar","tag-republicans","tag-ruben-gallego","tag-senate","tag-tommy-tuberville","tag-veterans","tag-wars","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/19\/rubengallego-3.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-WXn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226633"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226679,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226633\/revisions\/226679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}