Trump's military honors for 'traitor' hit a road block
A Democratic senator intends to block the Pentagon from honoring a slain Jan. 6 rioter with a full military funeral.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) will introduce a formal resolution to prevent the Department of Defense from offering full military honors to Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to crawl through a smashed window into the House Speaker's Lobby as Donald Trump supporters tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, reported CBS News.
"The idea that they're giving this to a person who actively tried to overthrow the government, who was violent in nature, who knowingly was entering a restrictive zone while we were trying to conduct the safe passage of democracy, and the idea that they're just going to give this without a fight, it's just not going to happen," Gallego said.
Gallego pointed out that the president, Vice President JD Vance, along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Secretary Troy Meink have not publicly commented on honoring Babbitt, which indicates to him that "they just kind of have been trying to sneak this in under — in the dark."
"I'm not going to let that happen," Gallego added. "I'm going to put people on the record to make sure that we know who stood with your traitor, Ashli Babbitt."
The Pentagon initially denied the Babbitt family's request for a military funeral, stating that she was killed after "illegally" entering the Capitol, but the right-wing Judicial Watch lobbied Hegseth to reconsider, pointing to Trump's immediate pardon for more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants upon returning to office.
"[The government's] refusal to provide military funeral honors was part of the 'grave national injustice' that President Trump ended by granting clemency," Judicial Watch wrote in its request. "The 'process of national reconciliation' that began with presidential clemency demands a new determination granting military funeral honor for Ashli and her family."
But Gallego said those honors are meant "for those who defend the Constitution, not traitors," and his resolution cites the specific violation of federal law she was committing when she was killed.
"Ashli Babbitt's actions on January 6, 2021, constitute disqualifying conduct under section 985 of 4 title 10, United States Code, the rendering of military funeral honors to her would bring discredit upon the Air Force, and she is not eligible for such honors," Gallego's resolution reads.
