Latest news with #ZacharyAlam
Washington Post
20-05-2025
- Washington Post
US Capitol rioter who smashed Speaker's Lobby door charged with burglary in Virginia
A Virginia man has been charged with felony burglary after being pardoned for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, which included smashing the door panel that rioter Ashli Babbitt tried to breach before police shot her. Zachary Jordan Alam, 33, of Centreville, was arrested May 9 in a neighborhood outside of Richmond, Henrico County police said in a statement.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
US Capitol rioter who smashed Speaker's Lobby door charged with burglary in Virginia
A Virginia man has been charged with felony burglary after being pardoned for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, which included smashing the door panel that rioter Ashli Babbitt tried to breach before police shot her. Zachary Jordan Alam, 33, of Centreville, was arrested May 9 in a neighborhood outside of Richmond, Henrico County police said in a statement. Officers had responded to a call of breaking and entering, where the homeowner said an unknown man came in through a back door, police said. 'The man took several items before he was observed by people in the home and was asked to leave,' police said. 'Officers located the man in a nearby neighborhood and arrested him.' The attorney listed in court documents for Alam, Dannie Sutton, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A preliminary hearing for the burglary case is scheduled for late June in Henrico County court. Alam isn't the first Capitol rioter to be accused of breaking the law after getting pardoned by President Donald Trump. An Indiana man, Matthew Huttle, was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop six days after receiving his pardon. Huttle struggled with the deputy after learning that he was under arrest for being a habitual traffic offender. A county prosecutor in Indiana later ruled out charges against the deputy. On his first day back in office in January, President Donald Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers. They included Alam, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in November. The federal judge who handed down the punishment described Alam as one of the most violent and aggressive rioters. 'Those are not the actions of a patriot," U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich said at Alam's sentencing. 'To say otherwise is delusional.' Alam attended then-President Trump's 'Stop the Steal' rally near the White House before joining the mob that attacked the Capitol. He helped other rioters scale barriers outside the Capitol before entering the building through a broken window. On his journey through the Capitol, Alam screamed obscenities at police, tried to kick in a hallway door and threw a red velvet rope at officers from a balcony. He joined other rioters in trying to breach doors leading to the House chamber, but the entrances were barricaded with furniture and guarded by police. Pushing past officers, Alam punched and shattered three window panes on the doors of the Speaker's Lobby. Another rioter handed him a helmet, which he used to smash the door and glass panes. Other rioters yelled that police officers behind the door had drawn their guns, but Alam continued to smash the last glass pane. Babbitt, who was unarmed, tried to climb through the broken window and was fatally shot. The Capitol police officer who shot Babbitt was cleared of any wrongdoing. That hasn't stopped many Capitol riot apologists, including Trump, from portraying the Air Force veteran as a martyr. The Trump administration has agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit that Babbitt's family filed over her shooting, a person with knowledge of the settlement told The Associated Press on Monday. Alam had asked for a pardon at his sentencing hearing, telling the judge he believed in his heart that he was doing the right thing. 'Sometimes you have to break the rules to do what's right,' he said. Alam graduated from the University of Virginia before dropping out of the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine. His defense attorney for the Capitol riot trial, Steven Metcalf, described Alam as a troubled loner who 'just wanted to fit in somewhere because he has been rejected by everyone else in his life.' In a letter to the court, Alam's mother said his father disowned him after he didn't become a doctor and worked various jobs, including unloading trucks and bussing tables. 'Zachary had turned to alcohol and drug use and associated with people who were negative influences; he began committing misdemeanor crimes to survive,' she wrote. ——
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
US Capitol rioter who smashed Speaker's Lobby door charged with burglary in Virginia
A Virginia man has been charged with felony burglary after being pardoned for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, which included smashing the door panel that rioter Ashli Babbitt tried to breach before police shot her. Zachary Jordan Alam, 33, of Centreville, was arrested May 9 in a neighborhood outside of Richmond, Henrico County police said in a statement. Officers had responded to a call of breaking and entering, where the homeowner said an unknown man came in through a back door, police said. 'The man took several items before he was observed by people in the home and was asked to leave,' police said. 'Officers located the man in a nearby neighborhood and arrested him.' The attorney listed in court documents for Alam, Dannie Sutton, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A preliminary hearing for the burglary case is scheduled for late June in Henrico County court. Alam isn't the first Capitol rioter to be accused of breaking the law after getting pardoned by President Donald Trump. An Indiana man, Matthew Huttle, was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop six days after receiving his pardon. Huttle struggled with the deputy after learning that he was under arrest for being a habitual traffic offender. A county prosecutor in Indiana later ruled out charges against the deputy. On his first day back in office in January, President Donald Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers. They included Alam, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in November. The federal judge who handed down the punishment described Alam as one of the most violent and aggressive rioters. 'Those are not the actions of a patriot,' U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich said at Alam's sentencing. 'To say otherwise is delusional.' Alam attended then-President Trump's 'Stop the Steal' rally near the White House before joining the mob that attacked the Capitol. He helped other rioters scale barriers outside the Capitol before entering the building through a broken window. On his journey through the Capitol, Alam screamed obscenities at police, tried to kick in a hallway door and threw a red velvet rope at officers from a balcony. He joined other rioters in trying to breach doors leading to the House chamber, but the entrances were barricaded with furniture and guarded by police. Pushing past officers, Alam punched and shattered three window panes on the doors of the Speaker's Lobby. Another rioter handed him a helmet, which he used to smash the door and glass panes. Other rioters yelled that police officers behind the door had drawn their guns, but Alam continued to smash the last glass pane. Babbitt, who was unarmed, tried to climb through the broken window and was fatally shot. The Capitol police officer who shot Babbitt was cleared of any wrongdoing. That hasn't stopped many Capitol riot apologists, including Trump, from portraying the Air Force veteran as a martyr. The Trump administration has agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit that Babbitt's family filed over her shooting, a person with knowledge of the settlement told The Associated Press on Monday. Alam had asked for a pardon at his sentencing hearing, telling the judge he believed in his heart that he was doing the right thing. 'Sometimes you have to break the rules to do what's right,' he said. Alam graduated from the University of Virginia before dropping out of the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine. His defense attorney for the Capitol riot trial, Steven Metcalf, described Alam as a troubled loner who 'just wanted to fit in somewhere because he has been rejected by everyone else in his life.' In a letter to the court, Alam's mother said his father disowned him after he didn't become a doctor and worked various jobs, including unloading trucks and bussing tables. 'Zachary had turned to alcohol and drug use and associated with people who were negative influences; he began committing misdemeanor crimes to survive,' she wrote. —— Associated Press reporter Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
January 6 rioter who was pardoned by Trump arrested for burglary
A participant in the January 6 attack pardoned by Donald Trump was recently arrested for burglary and vandalism in Virginia in what is believed to be the first incidence of new charges for a person who took part in the 2021 US Capitol insurrection. Zachary Alam received one of the longest prison sentences, eight years, for his part in the violence committed in Washington DC by Trump supporters attempting to keep him in office after his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden. The judge at his sentencing noted that officers called him 'by far the loudest, the most combative and the most violent of the rioters'. Alam, 33, spent almost four years in jail then was unconditionally pardoned along with about 1,500 others by Trump on the first day of his second presidency in January. Officers from Henrico county arrested him on 9 May in a neighborhood just outside Richmond after residents said an unknown man had entered their house and taken several items, the Washington Post reported. Alam, who has previous convictions including auto theft and driving under the influence, was found in a nearby neighborhood and arrested and charged with felony residential burglary and misdemeanor vandalism, the newspaper said. Alam never showed any remorse for his actions on 6 January 2021, for which he was convicted of eight felonies, including assaulting law enforcement, and three misdemeanors. According to witnesses, he broke the glass of a door in the speaker's lobby through which fellow rioter Ashli Babbitt climbed before she was fatally shot by an armed officer defending the House chambers. The Trump administration reportedly reached a $5m settlement this week with Babbitt's family to settle a wrongful death lawsuit. At Alam's trial, prosecutors described how he was among the first of a mob of rioters to enter the Capitol building from its west lawn and spent at least 30 minutes inside, during which he hurled items at police from a balcony. He used a helmet to shatter three glass panes in the door through which Babbitt was shot and left the area urging other rioters to return with guns. Alam was arrested by FBI agents in Denver, Pennsylvania, on 30 January 2021 and remained incarcerated through his November 2024 trial and sentencing, until his pardon in January. 'I know that breaking windows is against the law. But I believed in my heart I was doing the right thing. Sometimes you have to break the rules to do what's right,' Alam said at his sentencing hearing, the Post reported. The newspaper said Alam's lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
Washington Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Jan. 6 rioter who assaulted police charged with burglary near Richmond
A Fairfax County man who assaulted police at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and smashed the glass pane through which Ashli Babbitt climbed before she was fatally shot, has been arrested again outside of Richmond. Zachary J. Alam is accused of breaking into a home this month while the residents were there. He appears to be the first Capitol rioter arrested on new charges after President Donald Trump granted clemency to the roughly 1,600 people charged for their roles in the insurrection. Alam, 33, of Centreville, spent more than four years in jail after assaulting police at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and in November he was sentenced to an eight-year term after a jury convicted him of seven felonies and three misdemeanors, including assaulting police officers and obstructing police during a civil disorder. At his sentencing last year, two days after Trump's election victory, Alam demanded a pardon and reparations. 'I will not accept a second-class pardon,' Alam said. 'I want a full pardon with all the benefits that come with it, including full compensation.' U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich cited Alam's 'lack of remorse' in giving him one of the longest Jan. 6-related sentences. 'The actions of Mr. Alam on Jan. 6 were among the most violent and aggressive of the Jan. 6 defendants,' she said, adding that officers at the Capitol recalled him because 'he was by far the loudest, the most combative and the most violent of the Jan. 6 rioters.' Alam was fully pardoned on Jan. 20 and released from jail. Henrico County police said they arrested Alam late on May 9, in a neighborhood just east of the Richmond city limits. Homeowners told officers that around 8:30 p.m., an unknown man entered their house on Arthurwood Place through the back door and took several items. The residents saw the man and asked him to leave. Police said they found the man in a nearby neighborhood. Alam was arrested and charged with felony residential burglary and misdemeanor vandalism. He was being held Monday in the Henrico County jail, jail officials said. Alam has prior convictions for auto theft, leaving the scene of an accident, petty larceny and drunken driving, according to federal prosecutors, who argued for a lengthy prison sentence after his Jan. 6-related conviction. Alam's attorney in the burglary and his Jan. 6 attorney both did not return messages seeking comment Monday. Alam was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol, prosecutors said, and was at the front of a mob that broke through a police line inside the building. He then went to the Speaker's Lobby, where video showed him throwing himself against officers guarding the door, punching glass door panels behind the officers, and then using a helmet to cover his fist and completely dislodge the right-side panel. When Babbitt climbed into the space created by Alam, she was shot once by a Capitol Police officer. The shooting was ruled justified, but Babbitt's family sued and has apparently negotiated a $5 million settlement with the government, The Washington Post reported Monday. 'I know that breaking windows is against the law,' Alam said at his sentencing. 'But I believed in my heart I was doing the right thing. Sometimes you have to break the rules to do what's right. … Some J6ers did violence, but only because they thought they were saving the country in the process.' Alam is not the first Capitol riot defendant to be accused of breaking the law after the president issued the pardons on Jan. 20, but he is the first to be arrested. Six days after the mass clemency order was issued, Jan. 6 defendant Matthew Huttle was pulled over by a Jasper County sheriff's deputy in northwest Indiana, got into a scuffle with the deputy and was fatally shot. Video released after the incident showed that the deputy informed Huttle he was being arrested as a habitual traffic violator, a felony, because he had no valid license and multiple prior convictions. 'I stormed the Capitol. I'm waiting on my pardon,' Huttle told the deputy, 'I can't really afford to get into any trouble right now.' Huttle ran to his car, and the deputy followed. As the deputy reached for him, Huttle could be heard on the video saying, 'I'm shooting myself.' The deputy stepped back and fired multiple shots. Prosecutors said Huttle had a loaded pistol in his minivan, and they ruled the shooting justified.
