A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday convicted a Maine man of assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and he now faces the prospect of serving decades in prison.
Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, of Lebanon, Maine, was convicted in US District Court of 11 criminal charges, including four counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers during the riot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.
Judge Rudolph Contreras handed down the guilty verdicts in the case against Fitzsimons, who opted for a bench trial. Fitzsimons’s lawyer couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
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Fitzsimons, clad in a white butcher’s jacket and fur pelt on the day of the insurrection and wielding an unstrung bow, “committed five assaults against law enforcement officers over an approximately five-minute span,” prosecutors said.
The assaults included hurling the bow like a spear at police, making forcible contact with an Metropolitan Police Department detective right before another rioter sprayed the officer with a chemical agent, pulling on a police sergeant’s shield and shoulder strap, causing injuries that required surgery, and twice charging a group of officers while “wildly swinging his fists,” prosecutors said.
Fitzsimons was arrested Feb. 4, 2021 in Lebanon, Maine. He is among 11 New Englanders arrested in connection with the U.S. Capitol attack.
Fitzsimons was also convicted of obstructing an official proceeding, interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, prosecutors said.
Fitzsimons was also convicted of four misdemeanors, including 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.
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The felony charges carry a maximum of 91 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said more than 870 people have been arrested for crimes related to the insurrection, which erupted in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency when he told a crowd of his supporters to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol in an effort to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s November 2020 election victory.
Congress was forced to evacuate the Capitol as the mob overwhelmed the vastly outnumbered police force and broke in. Biden’s victory was certified after Congress reconvened later that night.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.