Lebanon man's Jan. 6 bench trial expected to wrap up with closing arguments today

Kyle Fitzsimons, circled, appears to be taking on a phalanx of Capitol Police officer defending the west tunnel during Jan. 6 unrest. (Surveillance footage)

WASHINGTON - The trial of the Lebanon, Maine, man indicted in the Jan. 6 Capitol unrest is expected to end today with closing arguments, which are scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
Kyle Fitzsimons, 38, of Gully Oven Road, faces years in prison if found guilty of injuring Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell, who told the court on Wednesday he had been medically retired after suffering a shoulder injury at the hands of the defendant.
Gonell said while grappling with Fitzsimons in the southwest tunnel of the Capitol he yanked at his shield and pulled him to the ground wrenching his left shoulder where the shield was partially secured.
Gonell said he knew it was Fitzsimons who did the damage because he was the only one wearing a white coat among the protesters that he was trying to hold back from entering the Capitol.

"It was the worst pain in my life." said Gonell, a native of the Dominican Republic, who came to America, later serving in Afghanistan as a member of the armed forces before being hired as a Capitol police officer 16 years ago.
Gonell said after being pulled to the ground he feared he would be pulled into the crowd and beaten to death. He said he considered pulling his weapon out and shooting Fitzsimons, but instead hit him twice with his baton, prompting Fitzsimons to let go and drift back into the crowd and out of sight.
The prosecution also showed body camera footage, including video and stills, which show what appears to be Fitzsimons grappling with security officers, however it is difficult to determine precisely who is doing what to whom.
During cross-examination, Attorney Natasha Taylor-Smith tried to establish Gonell as profit-motivated as he admitted he had been paid money for at least two interviews, including one by CNN.
On Thursday the prosecution's final witness was FBI Special Agent Thomas Ryan who spent extensive time scrutinizing some 50 hours of surveillance video of the Jan. 6 unrest attesting to its authenticity.
It is speculated that during today's closings, Taylor-Smith will bring forward a "defensive third party" theory, which would argue that Fitzsimons' actions were to protect fellow rioters who were being injured by excessive force from Capitol Police Officers.
Also testifying on Wednesday was Rochester Voice editor Harrison Thorp, who recounted how he sought out an interview with Fitzsimons after he heard he had spoken on a conference call with Lebanon's selectboard during which he gave his account of what happened to him on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Voice's article as well as the body camera stills and video were entered into as evidence exhibits by the prosecution.
One potential defense witness it appears won't be called is General Counsel of the DC Capitol Police, who in defense documents is said to have documents regarding alleged complaints against against Gonell."
In her petition to enforce a subpoena Taylor-Smith states, "the complaints against Sergeant Gonell are necessary to demonstrate Sergeant Gonell's bias in favor of the government."
In Taylor-Smith's subpoena petition she notes that, "Evidence going to a witnesses' capacity of truthfulness or bias is always relevant."
Taylor-Smith was not immediately available for comment on why he was not called.
Other individuals accused of injuring officers during the unrest have received sentences of five years and more.
Fitzsimons, has been held at the DC Central Detention Facility since late March 2021.
He was arrested on Feb. 4, 2021, at his Gully Oven Road home.
A bench trial is similar to a jury trial in most respects, but in this case the judge will determine whether the prosecutors have sufficiently proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
A superceding indictment filed in May accuses Fitzsimons of "using a dangerous or deadly weapon on certain officers" in that he "did forcibly resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, interfere and use a dangerous or deadly weapon on an officer and employee of the United States ... an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department."
The original 10-count indictment filed against Fitzsimons in February 2021 alleges the husband, father of one and former Hannaford butcher with obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, two counts of civil disorder and two counts of inflicting bodily injury on certain officers.
Fizsimons pleaded not guilty on all charges during an April 2021 arraignment, which came more than 10 weeks after his arrest in Lebanon.