A New Jersey gym owner who punched a police officer during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been sentenced to more …
A New Jersey gym owner who punched a police officer during the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been sentenced to more than three years in prison. Scott Fairlamb’s sentencing on Wednesday to 41 months in prison is likely to become a benchmark for dozens of other Capitol rioters who engaged in violence. Fairlamb was the first person to be sentenced for assaulting a law enforcement officer during the riot. His prison term is the longest among 32 riot-related sentences handed down so far. Federal prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of three years and eight months. A New Jersey gym owner who punched a police officer during the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison, a likely benchmark for dozens of other rioters who engaged in violence that day. Scott Fairlamb,44, was the first person to be sentenced for assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Capitol riot. His 41-month prison term is the longest among 32 riot-related sentences handed down so far. Fairlamb’s punishment likely will guide other judges who sentence rioters who clashed with police at the Capitol. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said it was significant that his sentencing of Fairlamb was the first for assaulting an officer, with more guilty pleas likely in the coming months. Lamberth said Fairlamb’s actions struck at « the heart of our democracy. » He had pleaded guilty, avoiding a trial. « Had you gone to trial, I don’t think there’s any jury that could have acquitted you or would have acquitted you, » the judge said. Fairlamb, a boxing coach and former mixed martial arts fighter, apologized and expressed remorse for actions that he described as irresponsible and reckless. « I take full responsibility for what I did that day, » Fairlamb said. « That’s not who I am. That’s not who I was raised to be.
