The Lebanon butcher found guilty last year of assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot will be sentenced at 10 a.m. Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, of Lebanon was the first Mainer charged after he was part of a mob that forced its way into the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the count of electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election. The riot took place two weeks before the inauguration of President Joe Biden as former President Donald Trump refused to accept the election results.
Fitzsimons was found guilty in September by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras of 11 charges — seven felonies and four misdemeanors. Fitzsimons waived his right to a jury trial.
He has been held without bail since his arrest in February 2021.
Federal prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 15 years and eight months to be followed by three years of supervised release in a 46-page sentencing memorandum. They also urged the judge to impose a fine of $26,892, the amount raised on social media to allegedly support Fitzsimons’ family, and at least $2,000 in restitution.
Fitzsimons’ federal defender has not filed a sentencing memorandum. He also did not respond to a request for information about the sentence he will urge the judge to impose.
The Lebanon man initially was scheduled to be sentenced in February but that hearing was reset after the federal defender who represented Fitzsimons at his trial resigned. A different federal defender out of the Philadelphia office will represent him at sentencing.
The maximum sentence Fitzsimons’ is facing is 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the most serious charges involving assaults on police officers.
One of the Capitol Police officers that Fitzsimons attacked suffered a career-ending injury when the Lebanon man wrenched his shoulder, the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum said. Another officer inhaled tear gas after Fitzsimons dislodged his gas mask and another rioter sprayed used pepper spray in the officer’s face. Fitzsimons assaulted a third officer by hurling the unstrung bow he brought into the Capitol at a police officer, who was not injured because she was wearing a riot helmet and carrying a shield, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors in their sentencing memorandum said that the rioters injured more than 100 police officers and caused more than $2.8 million in damages and losses. The $2,000 requested in restitution is a similar amount judges have ordered other convicted in the insurrection have been ordered to pay, according to court documents.
More than 1,000 individuals, including seven Maine residents or former residents, have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including nearly 350 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
