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Lebanon man charged in Capitol violence being held at Rhode Island jail

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LEBANON, Maine - When the Lebanon man charged in connection with last month's violence at the U.S. Capitol waived his right to a bail hearing in federal court in Portland it was expected he would be transferred to a Washington jail for his arraignment and bail hearing at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Instead Kyle Fitzsimons remains held at the Donald Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island almost two weeks later, a jail spokesman said on Tuesday.

An employee there said they had no info on when where he would be transferred or when his next court date is.

Meanwhile, the electronic court filing system used in federal courts shows no entry of Fitzsimons case as of today.

When he last appeared in court on Feb. 11 he waived his right to a bail hearing in U.S. Federal Court in Maine paving the way for what what was supposed to be a speedy transfer of his case to federal court in DC.

During an initial appearance on Feb. 5 Fitzsimons had requested a bail hearing in Maine, but changed his mind and requested that both the bail and probable cause hearing be delayed until they can be heard in the charging district.

His public defender, Attorney James Nixon, said on Tuesday that he would have no further information on the case.

The information officer for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has still not returned a call from The Rochester Voice, despite several that were made in the past week.

Fitzsimons, a husband and father of a one-year-old daughter, has yet to make a plea in the case. He faces more than 13 years in federal prison if convicted on all charges, which include assault on a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction of enforcement and trespassing on federal property, namely the U.S. Capitol.

Fitzsimons told The Rochester Voice in a Jan. 11 article that he went to the Capitol not to stoke violence, but to protest voting irregularities and support President Trump in efforts to decertify what was seen by many - including a large number of state legislature in five swing states - as an election fraught with statistical anomalies, compromised voting machines and even video evidence that showed ballot counting irregularities.

In the article Fitzsimons said he was unwillingly swept up in a "horde of humanity" outside the Capitol that swept him toward a police line where he was struck on the head.

He said after he was struck he was helped by Good Samaritans who helped him get to a D.C. hospital where he received six stitches for a gash on the crown of his head.

He told much the same story to Lebanon selectmen on Jan. 7, a day after the unrest occurred at the Capitol.

According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Fitzsimons twice charged at a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers who managed to fight him off. One struck Fitzsimons on the head with a baton, according to the FBI's affidavit, which said he charged at a line of officers.

Fitzsimons, who worked as a butcher prior to his arrest, is well known in Lebanon as a second-amendment activist. He also served as a member on the town's Cannabis Committee, whose function it was to form rules, regulations and fees on businesses related to medical and recreational sales within the town.

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