Defendants Repeatedly Assaulted Police and Stole Riot Shields and Batons to Aid in Violent Attack –

Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The first two felony guilty pleas for assaulting police officers in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection came this week, when two men from Washington State and New Jersey admitted to assaulting police officers from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department during the breach of the Capitol, which disrupted a joint session of Congress in the process of counting the electoral votes to confirm Joe Biden as president.

The defendants are the first two of more than 170 charged to plead guilty to the felony charges of assault on a police officer in the investigation, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to court documents, Devlyn Thompson, 28, of Seattle, Washington, was among a crowd of individuals on the lower west terrace who were pushing against and assaulting MPD and U.S. Capitol Police officers in the tunnel leading into the Capitol. Thompson admitted that he and others in the tunnel yelled obscenities at police and encouraged the continued assault.

According to his plea, Thompson was part of a group that threw objects and projectiles at the officers, including flag poles, and grabbed and stole the officers’ riot shields to prevent them from defending themselves against the violence.

Thompson personally observed police order rioters to stop, physically push the crowd back and deploy pepper spray in an effort to try to stop the ongoing assault. Later, Thompson picked up a metal baton from the floor of the tunnel and swung it overhead and downward against the police line in an apparent effort to knock a can of pepper spray from an officer’s hand and stop the officer from pepper-spraying the rioters. After more pepper spray was deployed by the rioters and the officers, Thompson retreated from the archway area.

Scott Kevin Fairlamb, 44, of Stockholm, New Jersey, traveled to Washington on Jan. 6 to attend President and Commander in Chief Donald Trump’s so-called “Stop the Steal” rally. After arriving on Capitol grounds, Fairlamb climbed the scaffolding on the west terrace, where he recorded and posted a video to Instagram in which he stated, “We ain’t f****** leaving either! We ain’t f****** leaving!”

According to his plea, Fairlamb was part of a large crowd that forcibly pushed through a line of police officers and metal barricades. He obtained a collapsible police baton from the ground and posted a video to Facebook displaying the baton.

In the video he said, “What Patriots do? We f****** disarm them and then we storm the f****** Capitol.”

He carried the police baton when he illegally entered the building and walked past broken glass of a shattered window. Once he exited, Fairlamb inserted himself into a line of MPD officers where he, unprovoked, shoved and punched an officer.

Thompson pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers while using a dangerous weapon. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. He faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Fairlamb pleaded guilty to counts two and three of the superseding indictment that charged him with obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for obstruction of an official proceeding, and up to eight years and a $250,000 fine for assault on law enforcement.

Both Thompson and Fairlamb are being held in jail pending sentencing. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the cases, with valuable assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of New Jersey and Western District of Washington. The FBI’s Washington Field Office is investigating the case, with valuable assistance provided by the USCP, the MPD and FBI’s Seattle and Newark Field Offices.

Texas Man Arrested for Assault on Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

Also, a Texas man was arrested this week for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Thomas John Ballard, a.k.a. Thomas Cliff Ballard, 35, of Fort Worth, is charged with federal offenses that include assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and civil disorder, among other charges. Ballard made his initial court appearance in the Northern District of Texas.

According to court documents, Ballard was captured in publicly available video taken on the lower west terrace during the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Throughout the video, Ballard can be seen at the front of the rioters confronting U.S. Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers who were defending the lower west terrace archway.

As depicted in public video and body-worn camera footage, at approximately 4:47 p.m., Ballard threw a tabletop at the police officers. A few minutes later, he used a baton to assault officers.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Ballard as #325 in its seeking information photos, as well as the Metropolitan Police Department, with significant assistance provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and FBI’s Dallas Field Office.

In the seven months since Jan. 6, more than 570 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 170 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.