成人X站

NATIONAL NEWS

US Capitol rioter who smashed Speaker’s Lobby door charged with burglary in Virginia

May 20, 2025, 10:07 AM

FILE - Support of President Donald Trump climb the West Wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 202...

FILE - Support of President Donald Trump climb the West Wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

A Virginia man has been charged with felony burglary after being pardoned for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, which included smashing the door panel that rioter Ashli Babbitt tried to breach before police shot her.

Zachary Jordan Alam, 33, of Centreville, was arrested May 9 in a neighborhood outside of Richmond, Henrico County police said in a statement.

Officers had responded to a call of breaking and entering, where the homeowner said an unknown man came in through a back door, police said.

鈥淭he man took several items before he was observed by people in the home and was asked to leave,鈥 police said. 鈥淥fficers located the man in a nearby neighborhood and arrested him.鈥

The attorney listed in court documents for Alam, Dannie Sutton, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A preliminary hearing for the burglary case is scheduled for late June in Henrico County court.

Alam isn鈥檛 the first Capitol rioter to be accused of breaking the law after getting pardoned by President Donald Trump. An Indiana man, Matthew Huttle, was fatally shot by a sheriff鈥檚 deputy during a traffic stop six days after receiving his pardon.

Huttle struggled with the deputy after learning that he was under arrest for being a habitual traffic offender. A county prosecutor in Indiana later ruled out charges against the deputy.

On his first day back in office in January, President Donald Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers.

They included Alam, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in November. The federal judge who handed down the punishment described Alam as one of the most violent and aggressive rioters.

鈥淭hose are not the actions of a patriot,” U.S. District Judge said at Alam’s sentencing. 鈥淭o say otherwise is delusional.鈥

Alam attended then-President Trump鈥檚 鈥淪top the Steal鈥 rally near the White House before joining the mob that attacked the Capitol. He helped other rioters scale barriers outside the Capitol before entering the building through a broken window.

On his journey through the Capitol, Alam screamed obscenities at police, tried to kick in a hallway door and threw a red velvet rope at officers from a balcony. He joined other rioters in trying to breach doors leading to the House chamber, but the entrances were barricaded with furniture and guarded by police.

Pushing past officers, Alam punched and shattered three window panes on the doors of the Speaker鈥檚 Lobby. Another rioter handed him a helmet, which he used to smash the door and glass panes.

Other rioters yelled that police officers behind the door had drawn their guns, but Alam continued to smash the last glass pane. Babbitt, who was unarmed, tried to climb through the broken window and was fatally shot.

The Capitol police officer who shot Babbitt was cleared of any wrongdoing. That hasn鈥檛 stopped many Capitol riot apologists, including Trump, from portraying the Air Force veteran as a martyr.

The Trump administration has agreed to pay just under $5 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit that Babbitt鈥檚 family filed over her shooting, a person with knowledge of the settlement told The Associated Press on Monday.

Alam had asked for a pardon at his sentencing hearing, telling the judge he believed in his heart that he was doing the right thing.

鈥淪ometimes you have to break the rules to do what鈥檚 right,鈥 he said.

Alam graduated from the University of Virginia before dropping out of the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine. His defense attorney for the Capitol riot trial, Steven Metcalf, as a troubled loner who 鈥渏ust wanted to fit in somewhere because he has been rejected by everyone else in his life.鈥

In a letter to the court, Alam’s mother said his father disowned him after he didn’t become a doctor and worked various jobs, including unloading trucks and bussing tables.

鈥淶achary had turned to alcohol and drug use and associated with people who were negative influences; he began committing misdemeanor crimes to survive,鈥 she wrote.

鈥斺赌

Associated Press reporter Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report.

National News

Associated Press

Oregon’s voter-approved pot labor law is unconstitutional, federal judge rules

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) 鈥 A federal judge in Oregon struck down a voter-approved measure regarding cannabis labor agreements Tuesday, ruling that it was unconstitutional. Measure 119, which was passed by Oregon voters last year, required cannabis businesses to have a labor peace agreement with a labor organization in order to obtain or renew a license. […]

11 minutes ago

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, ins...

Associated Press

North Korean defectors urge the UN to hold the country’s leader accountable for rights abuses

UNITED NATIONS (AP) 鈥 Eunju Kim, who escaped starvation in North Korea in 1999, was sent back from China and fled a second time, told the United Nations on Tuesday that the country鈥檚 leader must be held accountable for gross human rights violations. Gyuri Kang, whose family faced persecution for her grandmother鈥檚 religious beliefs, fled […]

23 minutes ago

Associated Press

Charges dropped against conservative activist in Texas over false voter fraud claim

HOUSTON (AP) 鈥 Texas prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against a prominent conservative activist in Houston related to allegations he had been part of what authorities have called a baseless voter fraud conspiracy theory in which a man was run off the road and held at gunpoint over claims he was holding fraudulent voter ballots. […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Loose pet kangaroo keeps police hopping — again — in a Colorado town

Chasing a loose kangaroo is getting to be part of the job for police in a southwestern Colorado town. Irwin, the pet kangaroo, wasn’t difficult to nab when he got loose last fall in Durango, Colorado. Still quite young at the time, he leapt into a bag similar to a mother kangaroo’s pouch. On Monday, […]

2 hours ago

The New York City skyline is seen behind Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., Wedn...

Associated Press

FAA extends flight limits at Newark airport into June because of controller shortage and tech issues

The flight restrictions that have been in place at New Jersey’s largest airport ever since air traffic controllers first lost their radar and radios briefly last month will remain in place into June, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Tuesday. The interim rule will cap the number of arrivals and departures at Newark Liberty International Airport […]

2 hours ago

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Offic...

Associated Press

Hegseth orders new review of Afghanistan withdrawal and suicide bombing at Kabul airport

WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered another review of the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, and of the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed American troops and Afghans. President Donald Trump and Hegseth have repeatedly blasted the Biden administration for the withdrawal, which Hegseth said Tuesday was […]

3 hours ago

US Capitol rioter who smashed Speaker’s Lobby door charged with burglary in Virginia