One of the more memorable videos from the Trumpist domestic terrorist insurrection on January 6 was a loon pounding his fist and then a helmet into the window of a door leading to the Speaker's Lobby, ultimately smashing it. (Coincidentally, it was one of the windows that fellow rioter Ashli Babbit was shot trying to climb through). He was identified as Zachary Alam of Pennsylvania after a tip from a family member, and was arrested by the FBI on January 26 in a motel in Lancaster, PA that he'd been hiding in. He's been arrested multiple times on various charges since 2016, so being arrested wasn't anything new to Alam.
Washington's excellent investigative reporter, NBC4's Scott MacFarlane, has been following the cases of the rioters, and reports that today Alam disrupted his court hearing, demanding to represent himself and arguing with the judge and his own lawyers, and demanding a plea deal before the judge ordered the hearing postponed until August. According to the charging document, Alam faces charges of assault on a Federal officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon, destruction of Government property, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful entry to the Capitol and violent entry and disorderly conduct. The charges put Alam among the most dangerous of the Trumpist fanatics on January 6, something that the prosecutor and judge have to take into account.
Alam, who's belligerent and unrepentant about his violent attack, will do his best to drag out his legal process by going for a plea deal and other maneuvers, but eventually justice will catch up to him like it has in the past. In the meantime, he has a fool for a lawyer and that's good.
(photo: Alam, arm raised, batters a door's glass window in Capitol. Justice Department)
