Notorious Jan. 6 Speaker’s Lobby defendant asks for pardon, gets 8 years in prison
Zachary Jordan Alam, the troubled Virginia man who created chaos just before the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, demanded a full pardon just as a federal judge sentenced him to eight years in prison on Nov. 7.
Alam, 33, of Centreville, Virginia, portrayed himself in patriotic language during a sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, an appointee of President-elect Donald J. Trump.
“I want a full pardon with all the benefits that come with it, including compensation,” Alam demanded, according to the Associated Press account of the sentencing hearing.
Alam expressed his hope for a pardon based on the Nov. 5 re-election of Trump, who will become the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025.
Alam’s defense team filed part of its sentencing memorandum under seal and suggested his troubled emotional history warranted a more lenient approach.
Alam is one of the most notorious participants in Jan. 6, as evidenced on Capitol Police security footage and third-party video. His most visible role was in the hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby, where Babbitt was gunned down by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.
Alam used his right fist to punch at the doorway, mere inches from the left side of Capitol Police Officer Christopher Lanciano’s face. He also punched at the glass panel behind Officer Kyle Yetter and Sgt. Timothy Lively, video showed.
Using a helmet handed to him by fellow agitator Christopher Grider, Alam smashed several glass panes in the doorway. After the final glass pane fell into the Speaker’s Lobby, Air Force veteran Babbitt punched him in the nose.
Rioter Zachary Alam shouts into the crowd shortly before using a helmet to smash several windows in the entrance to the House Speaker’s Lobby at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Photo by Sam Montoya
Babbitt then climbed into the broken-out right window and was shot by Byrd. She died 31 minutes later at a Washington hospital.
The U.S. Department of Justice recommended 136 months in prison, while Alam’s attorney sought a term in the range of the time he served in pretrial detention since late January 2021.
Coverage of the sentencing hearing revealed an ongoing media bias against Babbitt, 35, of San Diego. The AP suggested those on the right portray Babbitt as a “martyr,” echoing controversial language used in an FBI memo on domestic violent extremism.
Babbitt, who served 14 years as a military policewoman in the U.S. Air Force, shouted at three Capitol Police officers to call for backup as soon as violence broke out in the hallway, video showed.
She confronted Alam once and was brushed aside as he continued his attack on the doors, video showed. Then, after Alam smashed out a large panel of glass directly in front of him, Babbitt grabbed Alam and threw a left hook that stunned him and knocked off his glasses, video showed.
While the AP noted that Michael Byrd was “cleared of any wrongdoing” in the shooting by the DOJ, Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department, it failed to note the ongoing $30 million wrongful death lawsuit brought against the federal government by Judicial Watch Inc. on behalf of Ashli’s widower, Aaron Babbitt.
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