Jan. 6 rioter sentenced to 7 years in prison for throwing spear-like object at police
A man from Lebanon, Maine was sentenced on Thursday to seven years in prison for throwing a spear-like object at police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, was convicted of 11 charges — including seven felonies — for his role in the insurrection and sentenced to 87 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release, according to the Department of Justice news release. He was also ordered by Judge Rudolph Contreras to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Authorities said between 3:45 and 4:30 p.m, he was among a crowd of rioters who were illegally on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, “brawling with law enforcement officers at the tunnel entrance of the lower west terrace of the Capitol building.”
Fitzsimons, who was seen wearing a white butcher’s jacket and carrying an unstrung bow, committed five assaults against police officers within a five-minute span. At one point, he threw the unstrung bow at the group of officers, which hit and bounced off the ballistic helmet of the the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), court documents revealed.
Amid another altercation with an MPD officer, a different rioter sprayed them with a chemical agent and Fitzsimons trapped the chemical under the detective’s mask, causing him to temporarily suffocate, the filing reads.
The butcher also encouraged his fellow rioters to “get in there” and fight law enforcement like he did when leaving the Capitol grounds.
The judge on Thursday said he attacked police in a “burst of frenzied fury” and unleashed an “orgy of assaultive rage,” according to the Associated Press.
Fitzsimons, who pleaded guilty in September, apologized to the officers he attacked, the court, his family and “anyone else I’ve disappointed by my conduct,” admitting that he didn’t see at first that he was a “danger to the republic,” AP reported.
Authorities have arrested more than 1,069 individuals for their involvement in the Capitol insurrection. More than 350 individuals have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement during the riot.
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