Ashli Babbitt Already Got What She Deserved

On January 6th, 2021, Ashli Babbitt, who, up to that point, had been best known for helping spread conspiracy theories online in the QAnon crowd, decided the best use of her time would be storming the U.S. Capitol with other insurrectionists in an attempt to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election results and bring the “Deep State” to justice.

Babbitt followed her mass of co-conspirators in storming over barricades, past the first line of law enforcement protecting the grounds, and into the Capitol building, where she then attempted to breach a locked door despite repeated warnings from law enforcement on the other side.

Facing down officers on the other side, who had their guns drawn and pointed, Babbitt ignored their warnings and tried to climb through the broken window in the door.

She thought they wouldn’t shoot her, probably because she had been conditioned to believe law enforcement would never shoot any conservative, God-fearing white person, much less a white woman.

She was wrong. They shot and killed her on the spot. Her assessment of the situation was deeply flawed, and she paid for it with her life.

Ashli Babbitt was a grown ass adult who made a series of conscious, ill-advised decisions to engage in treasonous behavior, and she got exactly what she deserved.

She was a traitor. She was a threat to national security. There is no nuance needed here. While I would never cheer for her death, the law enforcement who killed her did exactly the right thing in that moment. I’d have done the same.

But because the Trump world is a massive cult that doesn’t believe in consequences for the actions of those who have pledged their lives to Dear Leader, the Trump administration has ordered the U.S. Air Force to give full military honors to Babbitt.

Babbitt served in the Air Force for four years, then as an Air Force Reservist for two years, then in the Air National Guard for a further six years.

Despite being deployed numerous times for various lengths over that period, her highest rank achieved was Senior Airman, or E-4 — which is extremely unusual for any service member, let alone one with a list of deployments under her belt.

Someone who’s been in the service that long without reaching the non-commissioned officer ranks has undeniably failed to inspire confidence in their senior leadership, to put it mildly.

To give you a sense of how weird that is, a dear friend of mine in the Air Force rose to Senior Airman (E-4) automatically in three years and Staff Sergeant (E-5) in five years, which is the typical pathway for the vast majority of Air Force enlisted personnel.

Basically, all the details here point to Babbitt being a less-than-impressive Airman in the most generous reading. A more honest assessment would be the term those of us who served in the Army have for mediocre soldiers: a “soup sandwich.”

Of course, not everyone is cut out for military service and all of that wouldn’t be a big deal for a veteran who acclimates well to civilian life and distinguishes herself as an upstanding citizen.

Babbitt didn’t do that, either. Her post-military life was worse. In 2016, she was charged with reckless endangerment after she repeatedly smashed her SUV into the vehicle of a former girlfriend of her husband. In 2019, a judge issued a $71,000 against her pool servicing business for failing to repay a loan.

She was irresponsible, undisciplined, and had a weak mindset. Because she had failed in both the military and civilian worlds, she came to the conclusion that it must be the world that’s wrong and Donald Trump would fix things and bring her the success and happiness that had been denied to her.

The conspiracy ranks of Trump’s base appealed to her because it offered a comforting explanation for the consequences of her willful mediocrity. Buying into the whole of Trump’s insane, hateful ideology would lead to resolution in her life.

In that sense, she was absolutely correct. It did lead to a resolution, though clearly not what she expected because her entire life had been spent failing and mollifying her angst with the belief that it must be others who are wrong, never her.

Donald Trump doesn’t give a shit about Ashli Babbitt or her family. He couldn’t care less that she was killed or whether or not she’s honored by the Air Force. His administration paying her family $5 million in an absurd settlement has nothing to with her or her family and everything to with investing in his own cult leadership.

This move to accord her full military honors is meant to be a signal to his base: “If you worship me, you will always be rewarded in the end.”

And they’re buying it. Hook, line, and sinker. So many of his supporters are in this cult mindset so deeply that they would pledge their lives to a fascist clown who would just as soon throw them under the bus for the slightest hint of convenience.

I spent a number of years burying fallen service members and veterans and their family members in Arlington National Cemetery. I carried caskets and urns and folded flags and listened to the painful anguish of their surviving loved ones who were there to honor their service and grieve a loss that will never fully heal.

Honoring Ashli Babbitt with full military honors, despite her treason and willful mediocrity, is spitting in the faces of those who gave their all to this country and their families. It’s spitting in the faces of the law enforcement who were beaten and lost their lives because of the actions of the insurrections on January 6th.

And framing Ashli Babbitt as a victim—undoubtedly in part because she’s a white woman—is deeply sexist and insulting to every woman who has served our nation in uniform with honor and courage beyond words.

I have zero sympathy for Ashli Babbitt. She made her choices, she betrayed her country, and she did so out of a sense of narcissism and a foolish, religious devotion to a fascist coward who is now using her corpse as a temporary distraction from his broad failures in governing and ongoing betrayal of our country.

Let that be remembered.