Grand Jury Indicts NJ Gym Owner Over Capitol Riot Participation

NEW JERSEY - A Sussex County man awaiting trial after being charged for taking part in the breach of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 now faces a 12-count indictment that includes engaging in physical violence and assaulting an officer.

Scott Fairlamb has been in jail in Hudson County awaiting trial for his alleged participation in the Trump Insurrection, after prosecutors successfully lobbied to keep him from being released after his arrest.

The 43-year-old Fairlamb, a longtime resident of Butler who moved to Stockholm last year and who owns Fairlamb Fit in Pompton Lakes, was indicted for:

• Civil Disorder
• Obstruction of an Official Proceeding
• Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers
• Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon
• Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds
• Impeding Ingress and Egress in a Restricted Building or Grounds
• Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building
• Impeding Passage Through the Capitol Grounds or Buildings
• Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
• Stepping, Climbing, Removing, or Injuring Property on the Capitol Grounds
• Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings
• Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building or Grounds

The six-page indictment offers few new details other than the official word a grand jury found the evidence presented sufficient to proceed.

Ten New Jersey residents are now among the growing list of people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. And the FBI is still continuing its manhunt by posting photos of people who unlawfully entered the Capitol and assaulted federal officers.

Federal investigators reviewed now-deleted social media videos and compared them with body footage from officers on duty at the Capitol on Jan. 6. A video submitted to the FBI captured a white man in a brown camouflage jacket that they identified as Fairlamb shove and punch an officer from behind on the West Front of the Capitol, documents show.

This is not the first time Fairlamb has had issues with authority. Back in May, Fairlamb, backed by supporters, announced his plans to reopen his Passaic County gym despite Gov. Phil Murphy's executive orders keeping gyms closed to stop help stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"He has overstepped his boundaries, and it's time for these gyms, that are, that are essential to open up," Fairlamb told CBS News.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who represents Missouri's 1st District, said she identified Scott Fairlamb as a threat back in June. When Bush commented on the incident in St. Louis in which Mark and Patricia McCloskey pointed their guns at racial injustice protesters, she said Fairlamb responded.

"Thank goodness no one was hurt by their gross behavior," Bush wrote.

The response from the deleted social media account @fairlambfit said "You're full of (expletive). Shoulda lit your (expletive) up."

"This is Scott Fairlamb. In June, he threatened my life on social media. We identified him as a threat then, and still, on January 6th, he attacked the Capitol," Bush said, posting a photo of Fairlamb and his comments on social media. "I don’t want to think about what would’ve happened had he found me that day. This is white supremacy in action."

Conspiracy Theory Vortex

A report from the Huffington Post said Fairlamb had gotten sucked into conspiracy theories long before the coronavirus pandemic.

“Over the last 8-10 years, Scott got pulled more and more into the conspiracy theory vortex and pushed everything in his life aside for it. Trump’s first campaign set his targets on [Hillary Clinton] and ‘lock her up,’ then it moved to QAnon type stuff over the last few years and ultimately resulted in his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot,” an acquaintance told the publication. “I feel for his wife, family, employees and community, but I have zero empathy for him. He’s had too many chances over the years to correct his pattern of bullying behavior ― all while portraying himself as a ‘good guy with a Batman cape’ in his hometown.”

Law Enforcement Family

Scott Fairlamb is the younger son of the late Preston "Jay" Fairlamb Jr., who died in a motorcycle crash in 2012 at the age of 64. The elder Fairlamb was a retired New Jersey state trooper, serving as a lieutenant before retiring in 2002, according to his obituary. He primarily worked in Troop B, which covers northern New Jersey, during his 28 years as a trooper.

Preston Fairlamb III, Scott Fairlamb's brother, is a member of the Secret Service and, according to former first lady Michelle Obama's 2018 memoir, had "led my detail" at one point, CNN reported.
According to LinkedIn, Preston Fairlamb III is currently the Resident Agent in Charge at the U.S. Secret Service in New Jersey.

Scott Fairlamb's attorney, Harley Breite, told CNN that Preston Fairlamb III was unaware of his brother's alleged actions during the attack on the Capitol.

Heart Attack In Custody

Fairlamb is being held in the Hudson County Correctional Facility as he awaits a hearing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and according to Breite, his client suffered a heart attack while incarcerated.

"My client, Scott Fairlamb, did suffer a heart attack while in custody at the Hudson County Jail," Breite told Patch. "He is in good condition now and is still under medication for his leukemia."

Breite is described on a film documentary website as a successful, long-haired, bowtie-wearing, confident, brash, Ferrari-driving 51-year-old lawyer, who lives with his mother and relishes taking the side of the underdog and fighting prosecutors and police officers.

His clients are the most despised people in society: serial killers, gang members, sexual predators, the site says. One article on Breite notes the thriving criminal defense attorney who has made a living representing unsavory characters who he knows are guilty–or as he puts it: the police charged the right guy.

Before the website for Fairlamb's gym was taken down and the phones disconnected, it said that Fairlamb was a leukemia survivor and his life experience and approach to training are one in the same — aggressive, focused and intense.

"With a 'no excuse' type attitude, Scott impacts the lives of his clients day in and day out. Just when you think you "can't", he will ensure that you 'can,' pushing boundaries, exceeding standards and helping you achieve nothing but greatness," the site said.

Fairlamb's bio picture had this quote:

"Tell me I can't, and I will show you that I can."

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