Jan. 6 Rioter Has Psychiatric History Including Suicide Attempt, Court Told

Zachary Jordan Alam, who smashed out windows in the entrance to the House Speaker’s Lobby before Ashli Babbitt was shot, is scheduled for sentencing on July 17.

Zachary Jordan Alam incites the crowd outside the Speaker's Lobby at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Sam Montoya/Special to The Epoch Times

The Virginia man who taunted police inside the U.S. Capitol and smashed several windows near where Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot on Jan. 6 has previously undisclosed psychiatric troubles, including a suicide attempt, that warrant a downward departure from the 11-year prison sentence sought by federal prosecutors, a defense attorney said in a new court filing.

The sentencing for Zachary Jordan Alam, 32, of Centreville, Virginia, was delayed at the last minute on May 6 after his attorney, Steven Metcalf II, disclosed his client’s previously unreported mental illness.