This image was included in charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accusing Janesville resident Michael Fitzgerald of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 unrest at the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors say this is Fitzgerald after entering the U.S. Capitol that day.
This image was included in charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accusing Janesville resident Michael Fitzgerald of participating in the Jan. 6 unrest at the U.S. Capitol.
This image was included in charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accusing Janesville resident Michael Fitzgerald of participating in the Jan. 6 unrest at the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors say Fitzgerald is the man in the red hat holding a cellphone and trying to push past a line of Capitol Police officers.
This image was included in charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accusing Janesville resident Michael Fitzgerald of participating in the Jan. 6 unrest at the U.S. Capitol.
JANESVILLE -– Mike Fitzgerald is a veteran, father, husband and a Janesville resident who’s currently dealing with stage four cancer. He’s also dealing with the consequences of taking part in what some have called an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Fitzgerald has since been charged in federal court in Washington, D.C., with obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds. He was arrested on April 7, 2021, arraigned on May 7, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In an interview the week with a reporter from The 69, Fitzgerald said he considers himself to be a “history buff” and finds the history of the country and the founding fathers very interesting. He also said that he is a Republican and has been a volunteer campaign worker for the Republican Party in Janesville.
Fitzgerald said he liked Trump’s policies but didn’t always like his personality.
He said he had seen a post on Facebook that said that there was a bus going to Wisconsin to D.C. with a pick up point near East Troy. He had never been to Washington D.C and figured that it was going to be a nice first-time trip to the capitol.
“That was like 70% of the reason I went out there, the other 30% was ‘Hey, I get to listen to President Trump, it’s going to be historic,’” he recalls.
His wife, Meaghan, had told him not to go, however, worrying about the number of people expected to be there. He assured her that he just wanted to see Trump speak and see the monuments.
After Trump spoke, the crowd he was with marched down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol.
Everyone was in high spirits and playing patriotic music, he recalls.
He said when he was marching he saw no barricades and that people “could walk all the way up to the inaugural stage.’’ There was someone out front who told the crowd that he “respects their right to protest,” and that they would have someone out soon to direct them to where they could stand. He said from what he saw there was no chaos.
And then the Capitol police started shooting tear gas into the crowd.
He said the crowd started moving to get away from tear gas and he was pushed along. The only way out was to go up the stairs of the Capitol, he recalls.
“I went into survival mode, it was fight or flight,” he said.
Meaghan was phoning, telling him to get out of there.
He said had his phone out to record what was happening.
According to court documents, Fitzgerald was wearing a red hat and a shirt that legibly read “Wild Protest.”
This image was included in charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accusing Janesville resident Michael Fitzgerald of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 unrest at the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors say this is Fitzgerald after entering the U.S. Capitol that day.
U.S. Department of Justice
A variety of pictures show him being near the front of the crowd, with his hand raised holding his phone. He appears in a photo as the crowd moved forward with his hand still raised. The next photo is of him exiting through the window after 40 minutes in the building.
This image was included in charging documents from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accusing Janesville resident Michael Fitzgerald of participating in the Jan. 6 unrest at the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors say Fitzgerald is the man in the red hat holding a cellphone and trying to push past a line of Capitol Police officers.
U.S. Department of Justice
Fitzgerald said he got a flight back home to Wisconsin and there, while watching the news, learned that he was number 32 on America’s Most Wanted.
On Jan.9 he called the FBI and turned himself in.
The aftermath
About two months after Jan. 6 Fitzgerald was diagnosed with stage four colon and liver cancer that has since spread into his lungs.
Fitzgerald said that life has been “a nightmare” since then. He and his wife started a non-profit — Veterans First Foundation. It’s dedicated to helping veterans find resources to avoid homelessness, and helps them figure out what to do after service, receive benefits, and get help for PTSD.
He said the foundation has had to be put on hold due to his cancer diagnoses and the court fees. His wife was going to school for childhood psychology and was getting paid for it as a veteran. She had had to put that on hold to take care of her children and husband.
He said the worst part of facing the charges is being called a traitor to his country.
He served as a Marine as a communications specialist stationed at 29 Palms, California, and completed a deployment overseas. His wife was a combat medic at Fairfield Air Force Base in Washington, southwest of Spokane.
“I’ve served my country as a Marine honorably, and to be called a traitor and attack my charity,” he said. “I have a tough shell but that stuff leaks through.”
Fitzgerald said as a whole his family is struggling.
He showed up at the hospital to see his mother before she passed after suffering a brain aneurysm but members of his family told police that he was dangerous and had participated the Jan. 6 events at the U.S. Capitol.
He was allowed to be with his mom if had two officers with him. He had only six minutes with her before she passed, because the hospital staff said they felt unsafe.
“I wasn’t allowed to go to her celebration of life,” he said. “So I had no closure with my Mom.”
Regrets
Fitzgerald said he’s willing to be held accountable for his involvement on Jan. 6. but said not everyone should be held to the same level of accountability.
He doesn’t feel like he should be grouped in with the people who took part in violent acts.
“I think everybody should be held accountable,” he said. “I have a lot of mixed emotions about that day; I feel like it could have been avoided,. I shouldn’t have put myself in that situation and I should have listened to my wife but I didn’t.”
“I feel for any Congressional member that was scared or felt in danger, regardless of if they're Democrat or Republican,” he continued.
