Virginia man arrested in Lancaster County guilty in Jan. 6 case, faces theft case in county

This story is published in partnership with our sister newsroom LNP | LancasterOnline.

A Virginia man who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and was arrested several weeks later at an East Cocalico Township motel was convicted Tuesday for his actions at the U.S. Capitol.

A federal jury in Washington, D.C., convicted Zachary Jordan Alam, 31, of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon, destruction of government property and related offenses following a trial that started Monday.

During the attack, in which thousands of Donald Trump supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, Alam entered the Capitol through a broken window. He and other rioters were recorded forcing their way past police inside the Main Door Hall.

Inside the Capitol, Alam smashed a window outside the Speaker’s Lobby by kicking, punching and swinging a helmet. It was through that window that Ashli Babbitt, a San Diego woman, climbed before she was shot and killed by a U.S. Capitol Police officer..

Alam also pushed up against a police officer as he was punching the windows and he shouted expletives multiple times in officers faces, prosecutors said.

Alam became known on social media as “Helmet Boy” because he’d been caught on camera smashing the window.

The FBI arrested Alam on Jan. 30, 2021, at the Penn Amish Motel near Adamstown after a family member tipped off the FBI about his identity.

When they did, the FBI found stolen antiques; on Aug. 10, 2021, Ephrata police charged him with theft and burglary.

The antiques, valued at $5,684, had been stolen Jan. 29, 2021, from Stoudt’s Antique Mall. The antique mall is less than a mile away from the Penn Amish Motel.

Investigators found items out of place in the mall, and surveillance footage showed a hooded man stealing items, police said. 

Alam’s local case was put on hold last year pending the outcome of his federal case.

Alam remains in federal custody and will be sentenced later.

More than 1,146 people have been arrested for crimes related to the Capitol breach, including more than 398 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. More than 80 people from Pennsylvania have been arrested.