A New Jersey gym owner and a Washington state man on Friday became the first people charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to plead guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the deadly siege.
The pair of plea deals with federal prosecutors could be a benchmark for dozens of other cases in which Capitol rioters are charged with attacking police as part of an effort to halt the certification of President Joe Biden's election victory.
Fairlamb, whose brother is a U.S. Secret Service agent, was one of the very first people to breach the Capitol after other rioters smashed windows using riot shields and kicked out a locked door, according to federal prosecutors. After leaving the building, Fairlamb harassed a line of police officers, shouting in their faces and blocking their progress through the mob, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Thomas Durkin, one of Thompson's attorneys, said Jan. 6 was a "horrible, horrible event" but disputed the prosecutor's characterization of the attack. It wasn't immediately clear what prosecutors estimate the sentencing guidelines should be for Thompson's case. Fairlamb pleaded guilty to two counts, obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting a Metropolitan Police Department officer. The counts carry a maximum of more than 20 years in prison.
Fairlamb's social media accounts indicated that he subscribed to the QAnon conspiracy theory and promoted a bogus claim that former President Donald Trump would become the first president of "the new Republic" on March 4, prosecutors wrote. QAnon has centered on the baseless belief that Trump was fighting against a cabal of Satan-worshipping, child sex trafficking cannibals, including "deep state" enemies, prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites.
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Capitol rioters enter first guilty pleas for assaulting policeThe pair of plea deals with federal prosecutors could be a benchmark for dozens of other cases
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Gym owner pleads guilty to assaulting officer in Jan. 6 riot at U.S. CapitolA New Jersey gym owner on Friday became the first person to plead guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
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