Earlier this week, a Virginia man was found guilty of felony and misdemeanor charges for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
Zachary Jordan Alam, 32, of Centerville, Virginia, was part of the mob illegally on the west lawn of Capitol Grounds, according to the Department of Justice. He assisted other rioters by using makeshift ladders to scale the barriers on the side of the northwest steps.
Around 2:20 p.m., Alam entered the Capitol building through a broken window next to the Senate Wing emergency exit, according to the DOJ. Once inside, Alam roamed different areas on the fourth, third, and second floors. The DOJ says that on the fourth floor, Alam attempted to kick in a door. On the third floor, he threw a red velvet rope from a balcony at police officers the on the level below who were standing guard at the Rotunda doors.
Around 2:30 p.m., Alam was corralled in the Will Rogers corridor, a hallway connecting Statuary Hall to the House Chamber’s Main Door where officers guarded the House Main Door, which led directly into the House chamber, according to the DOJ. He yelled at officers, laughed, argued with other rioters and joined the mob that pushed through the police line.
Around 2:40 p.m., after unsuccessfully trying to breach the House Main Door, Alam and others went to the doors to the Speaker’s Lobby to try to go through into the House Chamber, according to the DOJ. The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) guarded the speakers doors with a furniture barricade behind them. The DOJ says that Alam walked up to the officers and looked through the glass of the door where members of Congress and staff were visibly evacuating the House chamber.
Alam stood at the front of the mob and shouted "I’m going to f*** you up" in the USCP officers' faces, according to the DOJ. Alam moved to the doors, punched the glass repeatedly with his fist and shattered three glass door panes while members of the House were still there.
The DOJ says that Alam pushed three officers, rallied the crowd and announced that "the problem' was with House members. He used a black helmet to smash more glass panes.
According to the DOJ, rioters yelled that there was a gun behind the door, causing the officers behind the door still guarding House members, staff and media to draw their weapons.
Despite the chaos, Alam continued to smash the last glass pane in the door, according to the DOJ. A report stated that that's when he enabled a woman to climb through the window, and she was shot.
The DOJ says that as Alam left, he called out to rioters saying that they "needed guns."
Alam was arrested on Jan. 30, 2021 in Denver Pennsylvania, according to the DOJ. Investigators found evidence of flight and plans to dispose of evidence connecting himeself to Jan. 6, 2021.
On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Alam was found guilty after a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C, according to the DOJ. Alam was convicted of eight felonies: assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; destruction of government property; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
Alam also was convicted of several misdemeanor offenses: disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, act of physical violence in the Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
In the 32 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 396 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
