Colorado man sentenced for assaulting law enforcement during Jan. 6 Capitol breach
WASHINGTON, D.C., Colo. (KRDO) – A Colorado man who took part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was sentenced to prison Thursday morning for assaulting law enforcement during the insurrection.
Patrick Montgomery, 51, will spend three years behind bars and three years in supervised release afterwards, a U.S. district judge ruled on Thursday, Oct. 31.
"His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington said in a press release.
Montgomery, who is from Littleton, was convicted in May of felony offenses of obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. But following the Supreme Court’s decision in Fischer v. United States, the government voluntarily moved pre-sentencing to dismiss Montgomery’s conviction on obstruction of an official proceeding, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington said.
According to court documents, Montgomery and two other men, Brady Knowlton and Gary Wilson, attended the "Stop the Steal" rally near the Washington Monument on Jan. 6. After the rally, the three men crossed over a restricted perimeter and made their way to the West Front of the Capitol building.
Just after 2 p.m., Montgomery grabbed a Capitol officer's baton and attempted to wrestle it away. The two fell to the ground and wrestled for the baton, according to court documents. During the struggle, Montgomery kicked the police officer in the chest.
Afterwards, Montgomery, Knowlton and Wilson ascended the Upper West Terrace Stairs with a large group of people. The men climbed to the third floor and entered the Senate Gallery before going back down to the second floor, where they ran into a Capitol police officer.
According to court documents, Montgomery yelled at the officer, “You gotta stop doing your job sometime and start being American. You gotta quit doing your job and be an American!”
After this confrontation, the men exited the Capitol building at approximately 2:53 p.m.
The FBI arrested Montgomery in Colorado on Jan. 17, 2021, after he was reported to the FBI by three tipsters who saw him in videos and social media posts from inside the Capitol.
Co-defendant Brady Knowlton is awaiting sentencing; Gary Wilson was previously sentenced to 30 days incarceration followed by 12 months supervised release for his role in the events of the day.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,532 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 571 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.
