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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Cop Who Killed Ashli Babbitt Never Interviewed By Investigators, Now Back In Charge Of House Security

Within four months of the shooting, Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Justice Department.

FLASHBACK: Capitol Police Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Left His Gun Unattended In A Bathroom In 2019

Michael Byrd, the U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, is the same officer who left his gun unattended in a Capitol bathroom in 2019.

Ashli Babbitt's widower reacts to interview with Capitol Police cop who killed his wife: 'We are going down a bad rabbit hole'



After months of not knowing who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the identity of the shooter was revealed Thursday during an NBC News interview. Ashli Babbitt's widower reacted to the interview with the Capitol Police cop who killed his wife.

Lt. Michael Byrd sat down for an NBC News interview to announce that he was the Capitol Police officer involved in the fatal shooting of Babbitt, an unarmed Trump supporter who tried to climb through a door with broken glass inside the Capitol.

"I know that day I saved countless lives," Byrd proclaimed during the interview.

Byrd, a 28-year veteran of the Capitol Police, said there was no political motivation for the shooting. Byrd said he had been inundated with death threats since he shot and killed Babbit, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran.

Ashli Babbitt's husband appeared Thursday evening on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," where he reacted to Byrd's interview by saying he felt "pissed off."

Aaron Babbitt, Ashli Babbitt's widower, said he hadn't seen the full interview with his wife's killer, but had seen some video clips and read the entire transcript.

"I had not heard that one clip that you just played and my agitation level is actually going through the roof right now where he admitted he didn't really care if she was armed or not or unarmed or not," Aaron Babbitt explained. "He didn't care. So yeah, we are going down a bad rabbit hole right now."

Aaron addressed Byrd's claims about receiving death threats because of the deadly Jan. 6 shooting.

"And I don't even want to hear him talk about how he's getting death threats and he's scared," Aaron told host Tucker Carlson. "I've been getting death threats since Jan. 7 — two, three, five, 10 a day — and all I did on Jan. 6 was become a widower, so you're going to have to suck it up, bud and take it."

Carlson brought up an allegation against Byrd from 2019, where the officer "left his Glock 22 in a bathroom in the Capitol Visitor Center complex," according to Roll Call. Another Capitol Police officer reportedly discovered the unattended gun.

"This is a David v. Goliath fight we've got going on here," Aaron Babbitt said, noting that only a few Congress members have been helpful.

Tucker Carlson, Aaron Babbitt (Ashli Babbitt's Husband), And Terrell Roberts (Babbitt Family Attorney) React To The… https://t.co/oFCczX9BSY

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) 1630027210.0

Earlier this month, Ashli Babbitt's mother said she had not received "one phone call, not one email" from U.S. lawmakers, Democratic and Republican, who she contacted for answers into her daughter's death. The mother, Micki Witthoeft, noted that the only individual "in an official capacity" that has contacted her is former President Donald Trump, who called on July 1.

Newsweek reported in April that Terry Roberts, the Babbitt family's lawyer, plans to sue the U.S. Capitol Police for at least $10 million in the death of Ashli Babbitt.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Capitol Police exonerated Byrd in the lethal shooting following an internal investigation, and declared that "no further action will be taken in this matter."