A Slap in the Face: Honoring an Insurrectionist Aug 29 I still remember January 6, 2021, like it happened yesterday. I remember the screams, the pounding on the doors, the sea of red hats and flags that weren’t about patriotism but about overthrowing democracy. I remember my fellow officers being crushed, beaten, and sprayed with chemicals. I remember looking into the eyes of people who saw me not as a fellow American, but as an enemy simply because I wore a badge and defended the Capitol. Among those people was Ashli Babbitt. She wasn’t there to peacefully protest. She wasn’t there to petition her government. She was trying to force her way through a barricaded door, leading directly to the House chamber where Members of Congress were being evacuated. Her actions were not patriotic — they were violent and reckless. She made a choice, and that choice had consequences. And now, the government has decided to give her military funeral honors. I’m disgusted, and I am calling her out. I cannot do it alone. Subscribe today to support me and my work. This decision is more than just misguided. It is an insult — to me, to my colleagues who fought for our lives that day, and to the very idea of what military service means. Military honors are supposed to be reserved for those who upheld their oath, who served with honor, and who lived in a way that embodied sacrifice for their country. Ashli Babbitt forfeited that honor when she turned against the very Constitution she once swore to defend. Let’s be clear: She died while attacking democracy. That is the truth. You can try to rewrite history, but you cannot change what happened on January 6. No matter how much some politicians and pundits try to paint her as a martyr, she wasn’t. She was part of a mob that left a trail of broken windows, broken bodies, and broken trust in the very heart of our republic. I can’t help but think of my fellow officers — the ones who still wake up with nightmares, the ones who can’t return to work because of their injuries, and the ones we buried because the weight of that day was too much to carry. Where are their honors? Where are the proclamations, the ceremonies, the symbolic gestures that tell their families, “Your sacrifice mattered”? Instead, we watch as the government honors someone who tried to silence democracy with violence. This isn’t just about Ashli Babbitt. It’s about what we choose to celebrate as a nation. Do we honor those who defended the Capitol — often at great personal cost — or do we glorify those who attacked it? Every time we elevate someone like Babbitt, we tell the world that violent insurrection is excusable, even honorable. That message is dangerous. I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. On January 6, I kept that oath. Too many others did, too. And I will not sit quietly while those who tried to destroy democracy are rewarded with honors they did not earn. Ashli Babbitt does not deserve a hero’s farewell. What she deserves — and what history must remember — is the truth: she was part of an attack on America. And no amount of ceremony can change that. You're currently a free subscriber to Standing Our Ground. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.