Harrison Thorp 8:15 p.m.
Thursday, February 4, 2021 8:37 pm
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LEBANON, Maine - A Lebanon man who last month recounted his experience to The Rochester Voice during his Jan. 6 visit to Washington and the protest at the Capitol was arrested on Thursday for allegedly assaulting a federal officer.
Kyle Fitzsimons, 37, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on U.S. Capitol grounds, assault on a federal officer and attempting to obstruct law enforcement during a civil disorder.
Fitzsimons told The Rochester Voice in a Jan. 11 article that 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.
Fitzsimons is the first Maine resident to be charged in the so-called Capitol riots. Officials say he was taken into custody without incident, but released no other details about his arrest. His first court appearance has not yet been set.
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 told The Rochester Voice he went to the Capitol not to riot, but to protest voter fraud and to support President Trump in efforts to decertify what was seen by many as an election fraught with statistical anomalies, compromised voting machines and even video evidence that showed ballot counting irregularities such as at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga.
If convicted, Fitzsimons faces up to eight years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the most serious charge of assault on an officer.