Kyle Fitzsimons Tktktk Assaulted Police On January 6Th

Comment In the battle for the West Terrace Tunnel on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, as a roaring mob tried to push through a small opening, three police officers testified in federal court this week that Kyle Fitzsimons pushed his way to the front line and attacked them . All three also said they feared they were going to die during the hours-long attack. Sgt. Phuson Nguyen, a 19-year veteran of the DC police, said it had already been hit once with some kind of chemical spray. he proceeded to the back of the tunnel and cleaned his eyes, then returned to the front line with a gas mask. Police surveillance and body camera video played in court showed Fitzsimmons reaching to remove Nguyen’s mask while another man sprayed what Nguyen thought was bear spray directly in his face. Fitzsimons then released the mask over Nguyen’s face, trapping the chemical irritant inside, said the officer. “At that point I was suffocating under the mask,” Nguyen testified. “I was also hit at the same time. … In my mind, I thought this was it for me. I thought I was going to die there. … In my mind, I said to myself, “If you want to see your family again, you have to get together.” He said he broke the seal on his mask and a colleague pulled him to safety. After three days of testimony and dozens of videos and photos capturing Fitzsimons around the Capitol on Jan. 6, the judge who tried the case decided Friday not to issue a verdict on six felonies, including assaulting police officers and obstructing official proceedings. and five misdemeanors. Instead, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said he would first consider a defense motion to dismiss some of the charges and issue a ruling after Labor Day. Fitzsimons, 38, of Lebanon, Maine, has been incarcerated since February and is currently in the D.C. jail. He opted for a bench trial over a jury trial and on Thursday chose not to testify in the case. Capitol Police Aquilino Gonell, who has testified before Congress about his ordeal, said Fitzsimons grabbed his left arm and tried to pull him out of the tunnel as he leaned in the opposite direction, and video showed the two men struggling . The pain shot through his left shoulder, “one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt in my life,” Gonell said. He said he suffered a partially torn rotator cuff and labrum, underwent surgery and is now facing forced medical retirement from the Capitol Police. DC officer Sarah Beaver was also in the tunnel, having retreated from an earlier losing skirmish on the Capitol perimeter. The video showed Fitzsimmons hurling a stray archery bow, which he told a reporter he brought to the District as a peace sign, into the tunnel and hitting Beaver in the head. He was wearing a helmet and was unharmed, although he was staggered for a while. But after spending hours in the small tunnel, Beaver said: “I couldn’t breathe and I was afraid that if I passed out, I would die.” Fitzsimmons’ attorney, Natasha Taylor-Smith, a federal public defender from Philadelphia, said the videos do not clearly show Fitzsimmons grabbing Nguyen’s gas mask or Gonell’s shield. He said Nguyen was “simply wrong” about which rioter grabbed the mask and that Fitzsimons was stunned by the chemical spray coming from both sides when he allegedly grabbed Gonell’s hand or shield. Because the photo of a bloodied Fitzsimons was widely published, Taylor-Smith said, “he’s become the poster child for January 6.” He said he did not bring weapons to the Capitol, although prosecutors counted his crossbow as a weapon, and he criticized Gonell, saying he wrote a book, did many interviews and tried to profit from his experience. Gonell denied it. Although the assault and obstruction charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years, federal sentencing guidelines suggest a possible prison term of 63 to 78 months for Fitzsimons if convicted. The range could increase to 87 to 108 months if Gonell’s shoulder injury is classified as “permanent.” Fitzsimons made no attempt to hide his disbelief about the 2020 election results or his desire to be heard in Washington. In December 2020, he posted a request on the “Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers” Facebook page trying to organize a caravan in D.C. on Jan. 6, the page’s administrator said. It had no takers. Fitzsimons also left three voicemail messages for Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) that month, Golden’s chief of staff testified, one of which began, “So, what’s going on with the election fraud?” Fitzsimons continued, according to the voicemail played in court: “I’ll be down in DC at 6. I don’t think I’ll see you there. Maybe it will. Maybe it will.” When Fitzsimmons returned to Maine after January 6, he called a meeting of the Lebanon Board of Selectmen and filled the board with his experience. “I couldn’t imagine a more peaceful revolution,” Fitzsimons said. He also gave an interview to the Rochester Voice, based in New Hampshire, and provided photos of himself at the Capitol, but omitted to mention the melee with police. according to prosecutors. Fitzsimons, a butcher by trade, told the Voice’s Harrison Thorpe that after attending President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, he went to his car and put on his white butcher’s coat, with his name embroidered on the chest. , along with his rubber apron and a fur coat. He also said he brought a weak archery bow “to signify his peaceful intent.” He was soon captured on video walking up to the stage set up for Joe Biden’s pending inauguration and holding the bow. Fitzsimons was seen on video shouting “Freedom” before ending up in the West Terrace Tunnel. During his confrontation with Nguyen, the video shows an unidentified man reach over Fitzsimons’ shoulder with a high-powered spray and fire it near Fitzsimons’ face. At the same time, an officer was also targeting Fitzsimons with spray, dashcam video showed. The encounter with Gonell happened as he was holding his circle shield in his left hand and leaning over to help someone else who had fallen. Gonell said he had never been involved in an altercation with a protester, through hundreds of protests, in his 16 years with the Capitol Police. Another protester who attacked Gonell, Mark Ponder, smashed a post into the officer’s shield, shattering the post and the shield. Gonell spoke at Ponder’s sentencing in July, when Ponder was sentenced to 63 months in prison. Beaver said all manner of police equipment had been removed by the officers and then thrown back down the tunnel at the police. “They beat me with police batons,” he said. “I saw a gun flying into the tunnel. Fire extinguishers. I got a whole can of bear spray.’ After Fitzsimons struggled with both Nguyen and Gonell, he showed a surveillance video, got up and then ran headfirst into the line of officers with his fists pounding. He was quickly pushed back. During that raid, prosecutors said, another rioter wielding a metal crutch hit Fitzsimons on the top of the head, opening the bloody wound, which required six staples to close. Beaver and Gonell both said they believed their hours-long stand inside the tunnel blocked the only way the rioters could enter the Capitol, and only later learned the rioters had forced their way in elsewhere. “No one ever went through the West Terrace tunnel that day,” Beaver said. “We made sure that didn’t happen.”

title: “Kyle Fitzsimons Tktktk Assaulted Police On January 6Th Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Mario Yates”

Comment In the battle for the West Terrace Tunnel on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, as a roaring mob tried to push through a small opening, three police officers testified in federal court this week that Kyle Fitzsimons pushed his way to the front line and attacked them . All three also said they feared they were going to die during the hours-long attack. Sgt. Phuson Nguyen, a 19-year veteran of the DC police, said it had already been hit once with some kind of chemical spray. he proceeded to the back of the tunnel and cleaned his eyes, then returned to the front line with a gas mask. Police surveillance and body camera video played in court showed Fitzsimmons reaching to remove Nguyen’s mask while another man sprayed what Nguyen thought was bear spray directly in his face. Fitzsimons then released the mask over Nguyen’s face, trapping the chemical irritant inside, said the officer. “At that point I was suffocating under the mask,” Nguyen testified. “I was also hit at the same time. … In my mind, I thought this was it for me. I thought I was going to die there. … In my mind, I said to myself, “If you want to see your family again, you have to get together.” He said he broke the seal on his mask and a colleague pulled him to safety. After three days of testimony and dozens of videos and photos capturing Fitzsimons around the Capitol on Jan. 6, the judge who tried the case decided Friday not to issue a verdict on six felonies, including assaulting police officers and obstructing official proceedings. and five misdemeanors. Instead, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said he would first consider a defense motion to dismiss some of the charges and issue a ruling after Labor Day. Fitzsimons, 38, of Lebanon, Maine, has been incarcerated since February and is currently in the D.C. jail. He opted for a bench trial over a jury trial and on Thursday chose not to testify in the case. Capitol Police Aquilino Gonell, who has testified before Congress about his ordeal, said Fitzsimons grabbed his left arm and tried to pull him out of the tunnel as he leaned in the opposite direction, and video showed the two men struggling . The pain shot through his left shoulder, “one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt in my life,” Gonell said. He said he suffered a partially torn rotator cuff and labrum, underwent surgery and is now facing forced medical retirement from the Capitol Police. DC officer Sarah Beaver was also in the tunnel, having retreated from an earlier losing skirmish on the Capitol perimeter. The video showed Fitzsimmons hurling a stray archery bow, which he told a reporter he brought to the District as a peace sign, into the tunnel and hitting Beaver in the head. He was wearing a helmet and was unharmed, although he was staggered for a while. But after spending hours in the small tunnel, Beaver said: “I couldn’t breathe and I was afraid that if I passed out, I would die.” Fitzsimmons’ attorney, Natasha Taylor-Smith, a federal public defender from Philadelphia, said the videos do not clearly show Fitzsimmons grabbing Nguyen’s gas mask or Gonell’s shield. He said Nguyen was “simply wrong” about which rioter grabbed the mask and that Fitzsimons was stunned by the chemical spray coming from both sides when he allegedly grabbed Gonell’s hand or shield. Because the photo of a bloodied Fitzsimons was widely published, Taylor-Smith said, “he’s become the poster child for January 6.” He said he did not bring weapons to the Capitol, although prosecutors counted his crossbow as a weapon, and he criticized Gonell, saying he wrote a book, did many interviews and tried to profit from his experience. Gonell denied it. Although the assault and obstruction charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years, federal sentencing guidelines suggest a possible prison term of 63 to 78 months for Fitzsimons if convicted. The range could increase to 87 to 108 months if Gonell’s shoulder injury is classified as “permanent.” Fitzsimons made no attempt to hide his disbelief about the 2020 election results or his desire to be heard in Washington. In December 2020, he posted a request on the “Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers” Facebook page trying to organize a caravan in D.C. on Jan. 6, the page’s administrator said. It had no takers. Fitzsimons also left three voicemail messages for Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) that month, Golden’s chief of staff testified, one of which began, “So, what’s going on with the election fraud?” Fitzsimons continued, according to the voicemail played in court: “I’ll be down in DC at 6. I don’t think I’ll see you there. Maybe it will. Maybe it will.” When Fitzsimmons returned to Maine after January 6, he called a meeting of the Lebanon Board of Selectmen and filled the board with his experience. “I couldn’t imagine a more peaceful revolution,” Fitzsimons said. He also gave an interview to the Rochester Voice, based in New Hampshire, and provided photos of himself at the Capitol, but omitted to mention the melee with police. according to prosecutors. Fitzsimons, a butcher by trade, told the Voice’s Harrison Thorpe that after attending President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, he went to his car and put on his white butcher’s coat, with his name embroidered on the chest. , along with his rubber apron and a fur coat. He also said he brought a weak archery bow “to signify his peaceful intent.” He was soon captured on video walking up to the stage set up for Joe Biden’s pending inauguration and holding the bow. Fitzsimons was seen on video shouting “Freedom” before ending up in the West Terrace Tunnel. During his confrontation with Nguyen, the video shows an unidentified man reach over Fitzsimons’ shoulder with a high-powered spray and fire it near Fitzsimons’ face. At the same time, an officer was also targeting Fitzsimons with spray, dashcam video showed. The encounter with Gonell happened as he was holding his circle shield in his left hand and leaning over to help someone else who had fallen. Gonell said he had never been involved in an altercation with a protester, through hundreds of protests, in his 16 years with the Capitol Police. Another protester who attacked Gonell, Mark Ponder, smashed a post into the officer’s shield, shattering the post and the shield. Gonell spoke at Ponder’s sentencing in July, when Ponder was sentenced to 63 months in prison. Beaver said all manner of police equipment had been removed by the officers and then thrown back down the tunnel at the police. “They beat me with police batons,” he said. “I saw a gun flying into the tunnel. Fire extinguishers. I got a whole can of bear spray.’ After Fitzsimons struggled with both Nguyen and Gonell, he showed a surveillance video, got up and then ran headfirst into the line of officers with his fists pounding. He was quickly pushed back. During that raid, prosecutors said, another rioter wielding a metal crutch hit Fitzsimons on the top of the head, opening the bloody wound, which required six staples to close. Beaver and Gonell both said they believed their hours-long stand inside the tunnel blocked the only way the rioters could enter the Capitol, and only later learned the rioters had forced their way in elsewhere. “No one ever went through the West Terrace tunnel that day,” Beaver said. “We made sure that didn’t happen.”

title: “Kyle Fitzsimons Tktktk Assaulted Police On January 6Th Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-22” author: “Benjamin Chouteau”

Comment In the battle for the West Terrace Tunnel on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, as a roaring mob tried to push through a small opening, three police officers testified in federal court this week that Kyle Fitzsimons pushed his way to the front line and attacked them . All three also said they feared they were going to die during the hours-long attack. Sgt. Phuson Nguyen, a 19-year veteran of the DC police, said it had already been hit once with some kind of chemical spray. he proceeded to the back of the tunnel and cleaned his eyes, then returned to the front line with a gas mask. Police surveillance and body camera video played in court showed Fitzsimmons reaching to remove Nguyen’s mask while another man sprayed what Nguyen thought was bear spray directly in his face. Fitzsimons then released the mask over Nguyen’s face, trapping the chemical irritant inside, said the officer. “At that point I was suffocating under the mask,” Nguyen testified. “I was also hit at the same time. … In my mind, I thought this was it for me. I thought I was going to die there. … In my mind, I said to myself, “If you want to see your family again, you have to get together.” He said he broke the seal on his mask and a colleague pulled him to safety. After three days of testimony and dozens of videos and photos capturing Fitzsimons around the Capitol on Jan. 6, the judge who tried the case decided Friday not to issue a verdict on six felonies, including assaulting police officers and obstructing official proceedings. and five misdemeanors. Instead, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said he would first consider a defense motion to dismiss some of the charges and issue a ruling after Labor Day. Fitzsimons, 38, of Lebanon, Maine, has been incarcerated since February and is currently in the D.C. jail. He opted for a bench trial over a jury trial and on Thursday chose not to testify in the case. Capitol Police Aquilino Gonell, who has testified before Congress about his ordeal, said Fitzsimons grabbed his left arm and tried to pull him out of the tunnel as he leaned in the opposite direction, and video showed the two men struggling . The pain shot through his left shoulder, “one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt in my life,” Gonell said. He said he suffered a partially torn rotator cuff and labrum, underwent surgery and is now facing forced medical retirement from the Capitol Police. DC officer Sarah Beaver was also in the tunnel, having retreated from an earlier losing skirmish on the Capitol perimeter. The video showed Fitzsimmons hurling a stray archery bow, which he told a reporter he brought to the District as a peace sign, into the tunnel and hitting Beaver in the head. He was wearing a helmet and was unharmed, although he was staggered for a while. But after spending hours in the small tunnel, Beaver said: “I couldn’t breathe and I was afraid that if I passed out, I would die.” Fitzsimmons’ attorney, Natasha Taylor-Smith, a federal public defender from Philadelphia, said the videos do not clearly show Fitzsimmons grabbing Nguyen’s gas mask or Gonell’s shield. He said Nguyen was “simply wrong” about which rioter grabbed the mask and that Fitzsimons was stunned by the chemical spray coming from both sides when he allegedly grabbed Gonell’s hand or shield. Because the photo of a bloodied Fitzsimons was widely published, Taylor-Smith said, “he’s become the poster child for January 6.” He said he did not bring weapons to the Capitol, although prosecutors counted his crossbow as a weapon, and he criticized Gonell, saying he wrote a book, did many interviews and tried to profit from his experience. Gonell denied it. Although the assault and obstruction charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years, federal sentencing guidelines suggest a possible prison term of 63 to 78 months for Fitzsimons if convicted. The range could increase to 87 to 108 months if Gonell’s shoulder injury is classified as “permanent.” Fitzsimons made no attempt to hide his disbelief about the 2020 election results or his desire to be heard in Washington. In December 2020, he posted a request on the “Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers” Facebook page trying to organize a caravan in D.C. on Jan. 6, the page’s administrator said. It had no takers. Fitzsimons also left three voicemail messages for Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) that month, Golden’s chief of staff testified, one of which began, “So, what’s going on with the election fraud?” Fitzsimons continued, according to the voicemail played in court: “I’ll be down in DC at 6. I don’t think I’ll see you there. Maybe it will. Maybe it will.” When Fitzsimmons returned to Maine after January 6, he called a meeting of the Lebanon Board of Selectmen and filled the board with his experience. “I couldn’t imagine a more peaceful revolution,” Fitzsimons said. He also gave an interview to the Rochester Voice, based in New Hampshire, and provided photos of himself at the Capitol, but omitted to mention the melee with police. according to prosecutors. Fitzsimons, a butcher by trade, told the Voice’s Harrison Thorpe that after attending President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, he went to his car and put on his white butcher’s coat, with his name embroidered on the chest. , along with his rubber apron and a fur coat. He also said he brought a weak archery bow “to signify his peaceful intent.” He was soon captured on video walking up to the stage set up for Joe Biden’s pending inauguration and holding the bow. Fitzsimons was seen on video shouting “Freedom” before ending up in the West Terrace Tunnel. During his confrontation with Nguyen, the video shows an unidentified man reach over Fitzsimons’ shoulder with a high-powered spray and fire it near Fitzsimons’ face. At the same time, an officer was also targeting Fitzsimons with spray, dashcam video showed. The encounter with Gonell happened as he was holding his circle shield in his left hand and leaning over to help someone else who had fallen. Gonell said he had never been involved in an altercation with a protester, through hundreds of protests, in his 16 years with the Capitol Police. Another protester who attacked Gonell, Mark Ponder, smashed a post into the officer’s shield, shattering the post and the shield. Gonell spoke at Ponder’s sentencing in July, when Ponder was sentenced to 63 months in prison. Beaver said all manner of police equipment had been removed by the officers and then thrown back down the tunnel at the police. “They beat me with police batons,” he said. “I saw a gun flying into the tunnel. Fire extinguishers. I got a whole can of bear spray.’ After Fitzsimons struggled with both Nguyen and Gonell, he showed a surveillance video, got up and then ran headfirst into the line of officers with his fists pounding. He was quickly pushed back. During that raid, prosecutors said, another rioter wielding a metal crutch hit Fitzsimons on the top of the head, opening the bloody wound, which required six staples to close. Beaver and Gonell both said they believed their hours-long stand inside the tunnel blocked the only way the rioters could enter the Capitol, and only later learned the rioters had forced their way in elsewhere. “No one ever went through the West Terrace tunnel that day,” Beaver said. “We made sure that didn’t happen.”

title: “Kyle Fitzsimons Tktktk Assaulted Police On January 6Th Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-17” author: “Robin Ray”

Comment In the battle for the West Terrace Tunnel on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, as a roaring mob tried to push through a small opening, three police officers testified in federal court this week that Kyle Fitzsimons pushed his way to the front line and attacked them . All three also said they feared they were going to die during the hours-long attack. Sgt. Phuson Nguyen, a 19-year veteran of the DC police, said it had already been hit once with some kind of chemical spray. he proceeded to the back of the tunnel and cleaned his eyes, then returned to the front line with a gas mask. Police surveillance and body camera video played in court showed Fitzsimmons reaching to remove Nguyen’s mask while another man sprayed what Nguyen thought was bear spray directly in his face. Fitzsimons then released the mask over Nguyen’s face, trapping the chemical irritant inside, said the officer. “At that point I was suffocating under the mask,” Nguyen testified. “I was also hit at the same time. … In my mind, I thought this was it for me. I thought I was going to die there. … In my mind, I said to myself, “If you want to see your family again, you have to get together.” He said he broke the seal on his mask and a colleague pulled him to safety. After three days of testimony and dozens of videos and photos capturing Fitzsimons around the Capitol on Jan. 6, the judge who tried the case decided Friday not to issue a verdict on six felonies, including assaulting police officers and obstructing official proceedings. and five misdemeanors. Instead, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said he would first consider a defense motion to dismiss some of the charges and issue a ruling after Labor Day. Fitzsimons, 38, of Lebanon, Maine, has been incarcerated since February and is currently in the D.C. jail. He opted for a bench trial over a jury trial and on Thursday chose not to testify in the case. Capitol Police Aquilino Gonell, who has testified before Congress about his ordeal, said Fitzsimons grabbed his left arm and tried to pull him out of the tunnel as he leaned in the opposite direction, and video showed the two men struggling . The pain shot through his left shoulder, “one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt in my life,” Gonell said. He said he suffered a partially torn rotator cuff and labrum, underwent surgery and is now facing forced medical retirement from the Capitol Police. DC officer Sarah Beaver was also in the tunnel, having retreated from an earlier losing skirmish on the Capitol perimeter. The video showed Fitzsimmons hurling a stray archery bow, which he told a reporter he brought to the District as a peace sign, into the tunnel and hitting Beaver in the head. He was wearing a helmet and was unharmed, although he was staggered for a while. But after spending hours in the small tunnel, Beaver said: “I couldn’t breathe and I was afraid that if I passed out, I would die.” Fitzsimmons’ attorney, Natasha Taylor-Smith, a federal public defender from Philadelphia, said the videos do not clearly show Fitzsimmons grabbing Nguyen’s gas mask or Gonell’s shield. He said Nguyen was “simply wrong” about which rioter grabbed the mask and that Fitzsimons was stunned by the chemical spray coming from both sides when he allegedly grabbed Gonell’s hand or shield. Because the photo of a bloodied Fitzsimons was widely published, Taylor-Smith said, “he’s become the poster child for January 6.” He said he did not bring weapons to the Capitol, although prosecutors counted his crossbow as a weapon, and he criticized Gonell, saying he wrote a book, did many interviews and tried to profit from his experience. Gonell denied it. Although the assault and obstruction charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years, federal sentencing guidelines suggest a possible prison term of 63 to 78 months for Fitzsimons if convicted. The range could increase to 87 to 108 months if Gonell’s shoulder injury is classified as “permanent.” Fitzsimons made no attempt to hide his disbelief about the 2020 election results or his desire to be heard in Washington. In December 2020, he posted a request on the “Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers” Facebook page trying to organize a caravan in D.C. on Jan. 6, the page’s administrator said. It had no takers. Fitzsimons also left three voicemail messages for Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) that month, Golden’s chief of staff testified, one of which began, “So, what’s going on with the election fraud?” Fitzsimons continued, according to the voicemail played in court: “I’ll be down in DC at 6. I don’t think I’ll see you there. Maybe it will. Maybe it will.” When Fitzsimmons returned to Maine after January 6, he called a meeting of the Lebanon Board of Selectmen and filled the board with his experience. “I couldn’t imagine a more peaceful revolution,” Fitzsimons said. He also gave an interview to the Rochester Voice, based in New Hampshire, and provided photos of himself at the Capitol, but omitted to mention the melee with police. according to prosecutors. Fitzsimons, a butcher by trade, told the Voice’s Harrison Thorpe that after attending President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, he went to his car and put on his white butcher’s coat, with his name embroidered on the chest. , along with his rubber apron and a fur coat. He also said he brought a weak archery bow “to signify his peaceful intent.” He was soon captured on video walking up to the stage set up for Joe Biden’s pending inauguration and holding the bow. Fitzsimons was seen on video shouting “Freedom” before ending up in the West Terrace Tunnel. During his confrontation with Nguyen, the video shows an unidentified man reach over Fitzsimons’ shoulder with a high-powered spray and fire it near Fitzsimons’ face. At the same time, an officer was also targeting Fitzsimons with spray, dashcam video showed. The encounter with Gonell happened as he was holding his circle shield in his left hand and leaning over to help someone else who had fallen. Gonell said he had never been involved in an altercation with a protester, through hundreds of protests, in his 16 years with the Capitol Police. Another protester who attacked Gonell, Mark Ponder, smashed a post into the officer’s shield, shattering the post and the shield. Gonell spoke at Ponder’s sentencing in July, when Ponder was sentenced to 63 months in prison. Beaver said all manner of police equipment had been removed by the officers and then thrown back down the tunnel at the police. “They beat me with police batons,” he said. “I saw a gun flying into the tunnel. Fire extinguishers. I got a whole can of bear spray.’ After Fitzsimons struggled with both Nguyen and Gonell, he showed a surveillance video, got up and then ran headfirst into the line of officers with his fists pounding. He was quickly pushed back. During that raid, prosecutors said, another rioter wielding a metal crutch hit Fitzsimons on the top of the head, opening the bloody wound, which required six staples to close. Beaver and Gonell both said they believed their hours-long stand inside the tunnel blocked the only way the rioters could enter the Capitol, and only later learned the rioters had forced their way in elsewhere. “No one ever went through the West Terrace tunnel that day,” Beaver said. “We made sure that didn’t happen.”