A former MMA fighter who assaulted a police officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was sentenced to 41 months in prison Wednesday.
Scott Fairlamb pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding earlier this year. He was one of the first Jan. 6 rioters to plead guilty for assaulting a member of law enforcement.
“I truly regret my actions that day. I have nothing but remorse,” Fairlamb, who will also face 36 months of supervision following his release from prison, said in court Wednesday, according to CNN. “I just hope you show some mercy on me, sir,” the former MMA fighter added to Judge Royce Lamberth.
In prosecutors’ sentencing memo, Fairlamb was reported to have obtained a police baton during the Jan. 6 riot and screamed, “What Patriots do? We f—in’ disarm them and then we storm the f—in’ Capitol!”
Fairlamb then “aggressively” followed a line of Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers, screaming obscenities at them, prosecutors wrote. He also allegedly tagged Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) in an Instagram post days after the riot and wrote that he “shoulda lit your ass up” alongside other racist and sexist threats against Bush, according to CNN.
Lamberth told Fairlamb that he made the right call accepting the plea, CNN reported. “Had you gone to trial, I don’t think there’s any jury that could have acquitted you,” the judge said.
Lamberth also noted that other Capitol riot defendants who face charges for violence will “get a lot more” time in prison if they choose to go to trial.