US Capitol rioter who assaulted police officer gets 41 months in prison

CNN

By Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

A New Jersey gym owner and former MMA fighter who punched a police officer during the January 6 riot was sentenced to 41 months in prison on Wednesday, becoming the first rioter sentenced for violence against the police during the attack.

Scott Fairlamb pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding in August. He was also the first person to plead guilty to assault.

“It’s such a serious offense… an affront to society and to the law to have the Capitol overrun and the function of government stopped” said Judge Royce Lamberth, noting that the assault struck “in the heart of our democracy.”

Fairlamb’s sentence will likely set an early benchmark for how harshly rioters charged with violence may be punished and ushers in a new phase of the Capitol riot cases, which so far have only had non-violent defendants sentenced largely to no jail time.

“I truly regret my actions that day. I have nothing but remorse,” Fairlamb said, visibly crying in court Wednesday as he asked the judge for “mercy.”

Fairlamb said that he had disappointed his family, including his father who was a veteran, and noted that he has not spoken to his brother who is a secret service agent since his arrest “out of respect for his position and our government.”

“My life got pulled out from under me, and it’s no one’s fault but myself” he said.

Before handing down the sentence, Lamberth told Fairlamb he made the right decision accepting a plea agreement. “Had you gone to trial, I don’t think there’s any jury that could have acquitted you…you couldn’t have beat this.”

Lamberth said that other January 6 defendants in a similar situation as Fairlamb are “going to get a lot more” time in prison if they go to trial, and would be wise to follow Fairlamb’s example and plead guilty.

“The way you hit (the police officer) in the face like that, you’re fortunate he wasn’t injured,” Lamberth said.

Fairlamb was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release following his time in prison and will have to pay $2000 for damage done to the Capitol building.

Before being escorted out of the courtroom, Fairlamb blew a kiss to his wife who was sitting in the front row with his sister and mother.

Prosecutors sought 44 months in prison for Fairlamb, because of his criminal history, photos he took with an “AREA CLOSED” sign outside the Capitol — which prosecutors said show Fairlamb knew he was not allowed at the building — and messages to a friend that he’d “go again” to the Capitol.

Body camera footage shows Fairlamb following and yelling at officers on January 6, at one point shouting “you have no idea what the f**k you’re doing.” He then shoved and punched the officer in the head, the footage shows.

Prosecutors allege that Fairlamb was one of the first rioters inside the Senate side of the building. Four days after the siege, Fairlamb allegedly tagged Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat in an Instagram post and wrote that he “shoulda lit your ass up,” presumably during the attack. The post also contained screenshots of racist and sexist threats against the congresswoman.

This story has been updated with more from the court hearing.

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