An FBI agent who once investigated Americans for the January 6th Capitol riot has now avoided jail himself—after shooting and killing a U.S. Army veteran in the middle of a Virginia street.
Special Agent Benjamin Spinale, a 13-year FBI veteran, was convicted of two misdemeanors this month in Stafford County, Virginia. Despite killing Army veteran Jason “Harold” Chamberlain, Spinale will not serve a single day in jail.
The irony runs deep: while Spinale walks free after taking a man’s life, many of the protesters he helped investigate—none of whom killed anyone—remain in federal prison, serving multi-year sentences for their actions at the Capitol.
The Shooting of an Army Veteran
On February 28, Spinale, who was off duty, confronted a Hispanic teenager, Nico Vazquez, for riding a dirt bike down his street. Prosecutors said Spinale drew his gun, pointed it at the teen twice, and later aimed it again at the boy’s father and brother when they returned to identify the street for a police report.
As deputies arrived, 61-year-old Army veteran Jason Chamberlain ran from his nearby home to help. Deputies described him as a “hero” who came to assist law enforcement in what he thought was a dangerous situation.
Moments later, Chamberlain was shot dead by the off-duty agent.
Despite the presence of sheriff’s deputies and eyewitnesses, prosecutors declined to charge Spinale for the killing, citing “insufficient evidence.”
A History of Pulling Guns on Neighbors
The February shooting wasn’t Spinale’s first act of aggression. In October 2024, a doorbell camera recorded Spinale drawing his handgun on a family’s Labrador puppy that had run out of its home toward him.
In another case earlier this year, prosecutors said Spinale pointed his gun at a car full of teenagers, yelling at them to slow down. Vehicle data later proved they were only going 23 mph in a 25 zone.
Despite these incidents, Spinale continued working as an FBI special agent—and carried his service weapon.
Under his plea deal, prosecutors dropped two of four brandishing charges. He pleaded no contest to the remaining two and received no jail time. The agreement bars him from owning a personal firearm but does not prevent him from carrying one as an FBI agent.
The FBI Agent Who Helped Prosecute January 6 Defendants
Records show that Special Agent Benjamin Spinale was among the FBI investigators responsible for building cases against Capitol riot defendants, including Kyle Fitzsimons, who was charged with assaulting a federal officer and other felonies related to January 6, 2021.
In his sworn affidavit, Spinale detailed the government’s evidence against Fitzsimons, describing his movements on Capitol grounds and identifying him as part of the mob that clashed with police. Fitzsimons was later convicted and sentenced to over seven years in prison—a fate shared by dozens of other non-lethal defendants from the same event.
Yet Spinale, the agent who helped send those men to federal prison, now walks free after shooting and killing an unarmed American veteran in the street.
The Irony of “Justice”
The irony isn’t lost on the community—or on veterans who’ve watched the justice system bend depending on who’s holding the gun.
For many of the January 6 defendants Spinale once pursued, their “crimes” involved trespassing, shouting, or scuffling with police. For that, they lost years of freedom.
Spinale killed a man — an Army veteran the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office publicly called a “hero” for rushing to help deputies — and was convicted only of two misdemeanors.
A judge initially called Spinale a “vigilante” and said he shouldn’t carry a firearm “in any capacity.” Yet another judge later accepted the plea deal that keeps him free and federally armed.
The FBI confirmed it opened an internal investigation into Spinale, but when reporters asked if he still worked there, they received only an automated reply—citing the ongoing government shutdown.
A Tale of Two Systems
Jason Chamberlain, a 61-year-old Army veteran who stepped forward to help law enforcement, is dead.
Benjamin Spinale, the federal agent who killed him, is free and still authorized to carry a gun.
Kyle Fitzsimons, one of the men Spinale investigated, never killed anyone—and he’s serving years in prison.
Two systems of justice—one for the government’s own, and another for the citizens they’re sworn to protect.
And somewhere in Stafford County, the family of a veteran named Jason Chamberlain is left asking the same question that so many Americans are beginning to ask again: Who does the law really protect?
© 2025 The Salty Soldier. All rights reserved.
The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of TheSaltySoldier.com.
