Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Jan. 6 Capitol rioter Kyle Fitzsimons was convicted Tuesday of seven felonies with a combined maximum penalty of 91 years for attacking police officers and obstructing Congress as it attempted to certify the peaceful transfer of presidential power from the 2020 election.
"His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election," the Department of Justice said in a statement.
According to the Department of Justice, Fitzsimons was found guilty of "obstruction of an official proceeding; four counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, including two involving a dangerous weapon or bodily injury; one count of interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, and one count of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds."
Washington D.C. police Sgt. Phuson Nguyen testified that Fitzsimons pulled his gas mask off long enough for another rioter to spray the officer with a chemical irritant, then Fitzsimons snapped the mask back on trapping the irritant inside the mask.
"At that point I was choking under the mask," Nguyen testified. "I also got knocked down at the same time. ... In my head, I thought that was it for me. I thought that's where I'm going to die."
In a statement, the Justice Department said Fitzsimons, 39, of Lebanon, Main, hurled an unstrung bow "like a spear" at a group of law enforcement officers and assaulted officers. Fitzsimons was wearing a white butcher's jacket and a fur pelt while carrying the unstrung bow.
According to the criminal complaint against Fitzsimons, he moved to the front of a group of rioters during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, assaulting officers. The Justice Department said that after officers fought him off, Fitzsimons retreated back into the crowd of rioters.
Fitzsimons will be sentenced Feb. 17.