WASHINGTON — A Colorado man who assaulted law enforcement officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was sentenced Friday to four years in prison.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said 26-year-old Robert Gieswein of Woodland Park was also sentenced to three years of supervised release as well as restitution of $2,000 to the Architect of the Capitol after pleading guilty in March to two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
According to court documents, Gieswein drove from Woodland Park to Washington. He was seen at public events in D.C. on Jan. 5, court documents say. In an interview on Jan. 5, Gieswein said he intended to keep President Donald Trump in power.
On the morning of Jan. 6, Gieswein met up with a group of Proud Boys members in downtown Washington, documents say, and marched from the Washington Monument to the Capitol.
A large mob then broke down the barricades, assaulting police officers and rushing into a restricted area on the West Plaza, documents say.
While he was in the West Plaza, Gieswein was stopped by someone with a microphone and asked how he was doing. Gieswein stated, among other things, that "this" was "crazy," and that he "would die for this," court documents say. When he was asked what the solution was to "this right here," Gieswein stated to "execute these fascists," court documents state.
Gieswein was part of a group of people who pushed their way up the Capitol steps and met a line of police officers who were trying to keep people out of the Capitol, documents say. He then sprayed the officers with an aerosol irritant, according to court documents.
Gieswein was one of the first rioters to reach the Capitol and enter the building, according to DOJ.
Documents say Gieswein sprayed the aerosol irritant at three more officers before accessing the Rotunda.
After police blocked Gieswein and others from accessing then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office, Gieswein left the Capitol building. He then drove back to Colorado, according to court documents.
He was indicted later that month after turning himself in to authorities in Teller County.
The DOJ said more than 1,000 people from nearly all 50 states have been arrested for crimes released to the insurrection, including nearly 350 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
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