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39-year-old Maine man found guilty of 11 charges related to Jan. 6 attack on Capitol

Prosecutors said Kyle Fitzsimons assaulted multiple law enforcement officers during the riot.

By Dialynn Dwyer

September 27, 2022

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A 39-year-old Maine man was found guilty Tuesday of 11 charges, including seven felonies, related to his actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

Kyle Fitzsimons of Lebanon was convicted during a bench trial in the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. 

Prosecutors said that between 3:45 and 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Fitzsimons, wearing a white butcher’s jacket and fur pelt as he carried an unstrung bow, was among the rioters illegally on the Capitol grounds confronting police in the tunnel area of the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol Building. While in the area, Fitzsimons assaulted law enforcement officers five times in a five-minute span of time, including causing a career-ending shoulder injury to one of the officers.

First, authorities said the 39-year-old “hurled” the unstrung bow “like a spear” at a group of officers, striking a Metropolitan Police Department officer on their ballistic helmet. Then, Fitzsimons pulled a MPD detective’s gas mask away from his face as another rioter sprayed the officer with a chemical agent. The Maine man then released his hold on the mask, trapping the irritant in the detective’s mask. 

Authorities said Fitzsimons attempted to pull a fallen officer into the mob, and when a sergeant with the U.S. Capitol Police attempted to protect the officer, the 39-year-old grappled with him, pulling on his shield and shoulder strap. Prosecutors said the attack caused injuries to the sergeant’s shoulder that necessitated surgery. 

Fitzsimons also charged the group of officers, “wildly swinging his fists,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said, before eventually retreating. 

He was arrested Feb. 4, 2021, in Lebanon. He was listed as #139 by the FBI on its seeking information photos following the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

He was found guilty on the following 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 interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder; and one count of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds. 

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 or grounds; and committing an act of violence in the Capitol Building or grounds. 

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the felony charges alone carry a total statutory maximum of 91 years in prison, while the misdemeanor offenses carry a combined statutory maximum of three years of incarceration. Both the misdemeanors and felonies carry the potential for financial penalties. 

Fitzsimons is expected to be sentenced on Feb. 27, 2023. 

Since Jan. 6, 870 individuals have been arrested in connection with the breach of the Capitol, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, and the overall investigation remains ongoing.