“I truly regret my actions that day. I have nothing but remorse,” Fairlamb said in court Wednesday, later adding to the judge: “I just hope you show some mercy on me sir.”
His sentence will likely set an early benchmark for how harshly rioters charged with violence may be punished and ushers in a new phase of the Capitol riot cases, which so far have only had non-violent defendants sentenced largely to no jail time.
Before handing down the sentence, Judge Royce Lamberth told Fairlamb he made the right decision accepting a plea agreement. “Had you gone to trial, I don’t think there’s any jury that could have acquitted you.”
Lamberth said that other January 6 defendants in a similar situation as Fairlamb are “going to get a lot more” time in prison if they go to trial.
“The way you hit (the police officer) in the face like that, you’re fortunate he wasn’t injured,” Lamberth said.
Fairlamb was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release following his time in prison.
Body camera footage shows Fairlamb following and yelling at officers on January 6, at one point shouting “you have no idea what the f**k you’re doing.” He then shoved and punched the officer in the head, the footage shows.
This story has been updated with more from the court hearing.
