Last Thursday in the Henrico County Courthouse, Zachary Alam was found guilty of grand larceny and burglary.
Alam was one of about 1,600 people pardoned on President Donald Trump’s first day of his second term. He had previously been convicted for his role on January 6, including assaulting law enforcement officers.
Nicknamed “Helmet Boy,” Alam shattered a glass window panel on the door leading to the floor of Congress, first punching the glass, then using a helmet to finish the job. Moments later, Ashli Babbitt attempted to climb through that broken window before being fatally shot by law enforcement.
Alam had no friends or family members present at trial, nor did he call any witnesses. Acting as his own attorney, he relied on court-appointed lawyer Dannie Sutton only as a legal advisor.
He admitted to jurors that he entered the Smith family’s home, placed a stolen box in his backpack, and changed his clothes afterward.
In his opening statement, Alam said he had moved to Richmond after being lost in Washington, D.C. He claimed that after being abruptly evicted, he began looking for an Airbnb but had no phone service, and mistakenly entered the Smith family’s home instead.
The first person to discover Alam was the family’s son, a barber who had just finished work and gotten out of the shower. He found personal items spread across the guest-room bed with Alam standing there. When asked why he was in the house, Alam said he was with Xfinity to fix the Wi-Fi.
The Smith family testified that they were Verizon customers, not Xfinity. Once they realized Alam wasn’t who he claimed, they persuaded him to leave. Later that night, they discovered valuables missing, including a tablet and a diamond necklace, along with a broken window.
A neighbor told the family he’d seen Alam taking items from outside that same window.
That evening, Henrico Police located Alam less than two miles away. He never mentioned an Airbnb but told officers he was lost trying to take a train back to Washington, D.C.
Officer Christopher Minter testified that Alam had changed clothes in the few hours since leaving the Smiths’ home. Ring camera footage showed him in a black shirt and pants; police body-cam footage later showed him wearing white shorts and a T-shirt.
Alam also changed clothes while inside the Capitol on January 6 after Babbitt was shot, a tactic known as “debloc’ing,” when rioters swapped clothes to blend in. That move made him the subject of conspiracy theories pushed by Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a fellow J6er and Hitler impersonator, who claimed Alam was “Antifa.”
Despite the paranoia, Alam’s name was used to raise thousands of dollars. Disbarred Oath Keepers attorney Jonathon Moseley and the Patriots Legal Defense Fund reportedly raised over $12,000 for him. In June, Moseley and partner James Hull agreed to a $1.9 million settlement for deceptive marketing tied to their company Evoke Wellness. It’s unclear whether Alam ever received any of the money.
Alam’s self-representation didn’t help his cause. During jury selection, he told potential jurors he didn’t understand that defendants can be convicted based on circumstantial evidence.
During cross-examination, Alam suggested to the Smith family that they weren’t being truthful about the burglary even asking the father whether he was sure he’d closed the door every time he went outside that day.
At one point, Alam asked Officer Minter whether the items found on him included the family’s missing tablet or necklace. When Minter began listing all the recovered objects, Alam interrupted: “Objection. Stop talking.”
Although the missing jewelry and tablet were never recovered, the jury found enough circumstantial evidence to convict Alam after less than two hours of deliberation.
He now faces two to twenty years in prison on two Class 5 felony convictions.
Follow Goad Gatsby and read his original reporting HERE.
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