Scott Fairlamb gets longest sentence yet in Trump Capitol riot cases, and feds are seeking even more time for QAnon shaman Chansley
A man identified as Scott Kevin Fairbamb, according to a United States District Court complaint.
Source: United States District Court
A federal judge Wednesday sentenced former mixed martial arts fighter Scott Fairlamb of New Jersey to 41 months in prison for assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Fairlamb’s sentence is the longest prison term to date for any of the hundreds of people criminally charged in connection with the riot, which disrupted the confirmation by Congress of the Electoral College victory of President Joe Biden and left five people dead.
But federal prosecutors on Tuesday night said that they want an even longer prison term — 51 months — for the most notorious face of the Jan. 6 riot, so-called QAnon shaman Jacob Chansley.
The tattooed Chansley, who pleaded guilty in September to obstructing a proceeding of Congress, wore face paint, fur hat and toted a spear when he strolled through the Senate chamber and other areas of the Capitol complex.
“His actions struck at the roots of our democracy,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.
Chansley is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 17 in U.S. District Court in Washington by the same judge, Royce Lamberth, who sentenced Fairlamb, a 44-year-old former gym owner who lives in Stockholm, New Jersey.
Jacob Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli and the QAnon Shaman, speaks to passersby during the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images
Fairlamb’s brother, Preston Fairlamb, is a U.S. Secret Service agent who previously was assigned to protect Michelle Obama, the former first lady. Michelle Obama reportedly attended the 2012 memorial service for the father of the Fairlamb brothers.
Lamberth rejected a request by Fairlamb’s lawyer to sentence him to just 11 months in jail, a term well below one of 41 to 51 months recommended by federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 44 months.
“It’s such a serious crime that I can’t give a below-guideline” sentence,” Lamberth said, according to NBC 4 in Washington.
The longest prior term for a Capitol riot defendant, Florida crane operate Paul Hodgkins, was eight months. Hodgkins was the first person convicted of a felony related to the invasion to be sentenced.
An online fundraising campaign set up by Fairlamb and his wife Andrea as of Wednesday has raised more than $31,000 toward a goal of $100,000.
The page for the fund includes a statement by Fairlamb who wrote, “On January 6th I traveled to Washington DC to attend the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally.”
“What I witnessed at the rally was a sea of America loving, American Flag waving Patriots who came together from all over our great nation in support of our 45th President Donald Trump. All races, sexes, old and young cheering in what was the greatest gathering of solidarity I have experienced in my life thus far,” Fairlamb wrote.
Fairlamb and many other Trump supporters have embraced the false claim that Trump only lost re-election to Biden as a result of widespread ballot fraud.
Prosecutors in their sentencing recommendation memo wrote, “The website indicates the funds are to be used for mortgage payments, medical insurance, attorney fees, and monthly bills.”
“Fairlamb should not be able to “capitalize” on his participation in the Capitol breach in this way,” prosecutors wrote.
Fairlamb pleaded guilty in August to assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding.
When he was arrested in January, prosecutors in a criminal complaint detailed how video showed Fairlamb shoving and punching a cop on the west side of the Capitol complex.
A Facebook video submitted to law enforcement by a “concerned citizen” showed Fairlamb at the Capitol carrying a collapsible baton and saying, “What Patriots do? We f—-‘ disarm them and then we storm f—-‘ the Capitol.
Prosecutors in their sentencing memo wrote, “Two days after the riot, on January 8, Fairlamb filmed a chilling video threatening future violence, stating, ‘they pulled the pin on the grenade, and the blackout is coming. What a time to be a patriot,’ and, immediately after being visited by FBI agents on January 15, 2021, said that he would “go again” to the U.S. Capitol.”
Fairlamb has been held without bond since his arrest. The months he has spent in jail since then will be credited to his prison term.
