Lebanon, Maine, man sentenced to more than seven years in Jan. 6 Capitol violence

Kyle Fitzsimons during melee at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (Capitol Surveillance image)

WASHINGTON - A Lebanon, Maine, man called "one of the most violent and aggressive participants" in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol" has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, was found guilty of assaulting at least five officers near a tunnel that led into the Capitol.
Fitzsimons was convicted of 11 charges related to the Jan. 6, riot following a bench trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras last August.
The trial featured several Lebanon residents, including Rochester Voice editor Harrison Thorp.
Fitzsimons could've been sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison.
Following the four-day bench trial Fitzsimons, formerly of Gully Oven Road, was found guilty of seven felony charges including four counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, two involving a dangerous weapon or bodily injury as well as several misdemeanors.
The guilty verdict was pronounced shortly after Labor Day.
The sentencing memorandum produced by prosecutors urged that Fitzsimons spend 188 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release plus a $26,892 fine.
The bench trial included testimony from Thorp, who published a story a few days following Fitzsimon's return to Lebanon after the Capitol unrest.
In his interview with The Voice Fitzsimons said he had taken an unstrung bow as a sign of peace. Video produced by prosecutors at trial, however, showed him hurling the bow at a Capitol Police officer, staggering her. He also never mentioned that he had aggressively charged into a throng of Capitol Police Officers, only to be clubbed and beaten back.

Fitzsimons's sentence includes seven years and three months in prison. He will get pretrial credit for the two years and five months he's already spent behind bars.