Richard Zachary Ackerman

Case Summary

In 2021, a confidential human source who had been working with the FBI alerted them to Richard Zachary Ackerman's possible presence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, federal court records state. That confidential human source had been attending meetings of a group called the "Nationalist Socialist Club 131," also known as the "New England 131" or the “White Defense Force.” According to the FBI, the group is a neo-Nazi group "whose members see themselves as soldiers at war with a hostile, Jewish-controlled system that is deliberately plotting the extinction of the white race." The confidential source told the FBI that an online member going by the name "Zach Parker" stated he was at the Capitol and included a photo of a U.S. Capitol Police helmet with a sticker of the neo-Nazi group affixed to it. In August of 2021, Ackerman was stopped by border officials while returning to the U.S. from Germany. He allegedly told those officials he had been in Washington, D.C., on the day of the riot. Court records indicate that he agreed to a search of his cell phone, which revealed messages that indicated his presence at the riot. In one message, he allegedly wrote: "Here’s the helmet I stole" and in another: "I stormed the capital, & I grabbed a helmet off of the SWAT team." During a search of Ackerman's home, officials found the helmet "tucked inside the chimney flue," court records indicate.

Case History

Ackerman pleaded Guilty to both charges. Sentenced on 8/1/2024 to Time Served; 24 months of Supervised Release with 10 months of location monitoring; $125 Special Assessment; Restitution of $2,000. Ackerman received a full pardon on January 20, 2025

Sources

• Primary Documentation
  NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR
• Primary Documentation
  Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR

Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.