Robert Gieswein Of Woodland Park And Patrick Montgomery Of Littleton Charged In US Capitol Breach

Updated 3:12 p.m.

Two Colorado men, one from Woodland Park and one from Littleton, appeared in federal court on Tuesday and are facing charges for their roles in the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6.

Robert Gieswein, 24, of Woodland Park allegedly sprayed an unknown substance toward law enforcement from a black canister and was wielding a baseball bat as he joined a mob of people who pushed open temporary barriers outside the U.S. Capitol building and then encouraged people to break windows to get in. 

Prosecutors allege he assaulted U.S. Capitol police officers with a baseball bat on Jan. 6. He faces charges of assaulting a police officer, entering a government building without permission and interrupting a government proceeding.

Patrick Montgomery, 48, of Littleton reportedly boasted on social media accounts that he “stormed” the U.S. Capitol and faces charges of entering a restricted government building.

Montgomery was let out on a personal recognizance bond and Gieswein remains in federal custody until, at least, Friday. Montgomery is banned from travel outside of Colorado, including any other trips to Washington, D.C. unless it was for his legal matters.

Gieswein turned himself in to the Teller County Sheriff over the weekend. 

According to the charging affidavit, Gieswein was a member of a domestic militia called the Three Percenters which advocates for gun rights. Federal prosecutors say the man also ran a paramilitary training group called the Woodland Wild Dogs.

Gieswein entered the Capitol complex in paramilitary training garb — camouflage and an Army helmet and a reinforced military-style vest. 

In a video posted about the break-in, Gieswein allegedly said he wanted to get “corrupt politicians out of office. Pelosi, the Clintons, all of … every single one of them, Biden, Kamala … they have completely destroyed our country and sold them to the Rothschilds and Rockefellers.”

Greg Couch, a spokesman for the Teller County Sheriff, said Gieswein’s surrender Sunday afternoon was “very unremarkable.” 

Gieswein slept overnight at the county jail and federal officials picked him up early Tuesday morning and left.

Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said on Tuesday that there is a “strong community that believes in law enforcement and they were shocked that someone would go to the Capitol and do that to the Capitol police officers and destroy windows,” he said. 

Mikesell said he hadn’t heard of Gieswein before the weekend and that his paramilitary training organization wasn’t on the radar of local law enforcement officials. 

“I want people to understand that when they hear he’s from Teller, that he is a lone wolf,” Mikesell said.

Montgomery, a hunting and river rafting guide, had copious posts on social media, cited by FBI officials, that he drove to Washington, D.C. ahead of the Congressional vote on the certification saying he wanted to “check it out for myself. Figuring out what we do next moving forward. I promise this, it will take courageous Americans doing s---!”

When his posts and photos were reported to authorities, Montgomery posted, “I’m not a scared cat or running from anything. … Im [sic] so deeply covered by the best Federal Defense lawyers in the country in case you chicken s--- cry boys don’t want it takes to defend our freedom from these corrupt politicians,” he said. “I didn’t storm the castle violently. My group was let in peacefully by the police we were talking to with respect.”

Montgomery was represented in court on Tuesday by a federal public defender, as was Gieswein.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story had an incorrect name for the paramilitary training group that Gieswein is associated with. The story has been updated.