WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — A Maine man found guilty of 11 charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot could face more than 15 years in prison.
According to a government sentencing memorandum submitted Friday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, of Lebanon was dubbed "one of the most violent and aggressive participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol."
Prosecutors are calling for Fitzsimons to be sentenced to a total of 188 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He would additionally face a $26,892 fine, at least $2,000 in restitution, and a mandatory special assessment of $770.
According to the memorandum, Fitzsimons traveled to Washington D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021, and participated in the Capitol riot the next day where he attacked at least five different police officers and caused a life-changing injury to a Capitol police officer.
"... Fitzsimons committed five separate violent assaults against police officers during the brawl at the mouth of the "tunnel” on the Lower West Terrace ("LWT"). In chronological order, he hurled a wooden staff like a spear at the group of officers, striking Metropolitan Police Department ("MPD") Officer Sarah Beaver in the head. He swiped repeatedly at MPD Detective Phuson Nguyen’s face, trying to strike him and dislodge his gas mask. He wrenched USCP Sergeant Aquilino Gonell’s shoulder so hard and for so long that he permanently damaged it, ending Sgt. Gonell’s law enforcement career and forever inhibiting his ability to use it. And Fitzsimons twice charged into the group of officers, wildly swinging his fists, indiscriminately trying to punch any officer he could reach," prosecutors said.
On September 27, 2022, Fitzsimons was found guilty of seven felony charges:
- One count of obstruction of an official proceeding;
- Four counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, including two involving a dangerous weapon or bodily injury;
- One count of civil disorder;
- One count of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
He was also found guilty of four misdemeanor charges:
- Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds;
- Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds;
- Disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building;
- Committing an act of violence in the Capitol Building or grounds.
Fitzsimons' sentencing is scheduled for June 13.