Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 29
- Location
- Centreville, Virginia
- Charges
- Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon; Civil Disorder; Destruction of Government Property; Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Building; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
- Case status
- Pleaded not guilty; Convicted; Dismissed in part or full; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
According to court documents, Zachary Alam was allegedly part of the group on Jan. 6, 2021, that attempted to get inside the Speaker's Lobby, a group which included Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police. In videos of the incident, there are police officers guarding the door to the Speaker's Lobby. In the video, the person the FBI has identified as Alam can be seen "repeatedly punching the glass panels of the doors immediately behind the officers, causing the glass to splinter," according to court documents. In the video, he allegedly pushes against one of the officers and shouts "f*** the blue" into their faces. The officers eventually move to the side, and Alam allegedly takes a helmet from another rioter and shatters the window that was already splintered and another one to the right. Babbitt was shot trying to climb through one of the shattered panes. Alam later told a relative that he was sorry for what he had done at the Capitol but was not going to turn himself in because "he did not want to go to jail again," according to court documents.
Case History
Alam pleaded Not Guilty to all charges. On 8/8/2023, the court dismissed Count 2, Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon. Alam was found Guilty on all remaining charges in a Jury trial on 9/12/2023. Obstruction charge was dismissed at sentencing. Sentenced on 11/7/2024 to 96 months incarceration; 36 months supervised release; $630 special assessment; $4,484 restitution. Alam 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 - Supporting Reporting
NPR video evidence pageNPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.