A New Jersey gym owner who punched a police officer during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison, a likely benchmark for dozens of other rioters who engaged in violence that day.
Scott Fairlamb, 44, was the first person to be sentenced for assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Capitol riot. His 41-month prison term is the longest among 32 riot-related sentences handed down so far.
Fairlamb’s punishment likely will guide other judges who sentence rioters who clashed with police at the Capitol. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said it was significant that his sentencing of Fairlamb was the first for assaulting an officer, with more guilty pleas likely in the coming months.
Lamberth said Fairlamb’s actions struck at “the heart of our democracy.” He had pleaded guilty, avoiding a trial.
“Had you gone to trial, I don’t think there’s any jury that could have acquitted you or would have acquitted you,” the judge said.
Fairlamb, a boxing coach and former mixed martial arts fighter, apologized and expressed remorse for actions that he described as irresponsible and reckless.
“I take full responsibility for what I did that day,” Fairlamb said. “That’s not who I am. That’s not who I was raised to be.”
Justice Department prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of three years and eight months for Fairlamb, saying he was among the first rioters to breach the Capitol and incited others to be violent.
Other defendants are soon to face sentencing, including the shirtless rioter who called himself the “QAnon Shaman.” Jacob Chansley, who wore face paint and a furry hat with horns when he stormed the Capitol, became “the public face of the Capitol riot.” prosecutors said in a court filing late Tuesday. They recommended a longer prison sentence, four years and three months, when the Arizona man is sentenced next Wednesday.
Prosecutors argue Chansley armed himself with a six-foot spear, used his bullhorn to rile up other rioters, spewed threats in the Senate gallery and left a threatening note for then-Vice President Mike Pence, they noted. Unlike Fairlamb, Chansley isn’t accused of physically assaulting anyone.
Fairlamb joined a group of rioters who pushed through a line of police officers and metal barricades on the Capitol’s West Terrace. He recorded a video of himself shouting, “What (do) patriots do? We f——— disarm them and then we storm the f——— Capitol!”
Fairlamb carried a police baton into the Capitol, then left the building and approached several Metropolitan Police Department officers, screaming as he followed them. Fairlamb shoved one of the officers and punched his face shield.
The officer wasn’t injured but described Jan. 6 as the scariest day of his career, Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Goemaat told the judge.
Two days after the riot, Fairlamb said on a video that “they pulled the pin on the grenade, and the blackout is coming. What a time to be a patriot,” according to prosecutors.
Fairlamb pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting the police officer. Sentencing guidelines calculated by the court’s probation department recommend a term of imprisonment ranging from 41 to 51 months.
