Justice Department trial exhibits indicate that David Joseph Gietzen was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, wearing a green jacket and white helmet and goggles, and using a long metal pole to poke officers or using his gloved hands to remove their masks.
A man who assaulted police with a pole at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and then became a fugitive after he failed to show up for his initial sentencing hearing following his conviction on assault charges has been sentenced to six years in prison.
David Joseph Gietzen of North Carolina received his sentence from U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. During the hearing, he apparently appeared remorseless.
“I have to make it explicitly known that I believe I did the right thing,” Gietzen said before being sentenced, The Associated Press reported.
Nichols took note.
“Mr. Gietzen essentially was unapologetic today about his conduct,” the judge said, according to the AP.
In a statement, the Justice Department noted that Gietzen was convicted of multiple felony charges for his conduct at the Capitol including one count of civil disorder and aiding and abetting; two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon; one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and more.
Gietzen drove from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., with his brother and then entered restricted grounds on the west side of the Capitol complex after attending the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse. He marched toward the Capitol after Trump’s speech.
Once on-site around 2:15 p.m., despite repeated orders by police for him to leave the area, the Sanford man, wearing a protective helmet and goggles, instead screamed at officers and began pushing up against them as he taunted them and told them that they were a “complete f—— disgrace” and chanted “We want Trump!”
Gietzen shoved one officer before grabbing another by their mask and then striking another officer with a pole, “jabbing the officer twice,” prosecutors wrote in a 25-page sentencing memorandum.
Another group of rioters used a large piece of plywood at one point to distract a group of officers who were trying to put space between themselves and the mob. Gietzen took advantage of this situation to strike a police officer in gaps in his protective gear near his armpits.
In their memo, prosecutors asked Nichols to incarcerate Gietzen for 121 months, or just over 10 years in prison, plus three years of supervised release.
After Jan. 6, prosecutors said he was “proud of his actions” and “bragged to his friends” about what he had done.
“These messages reveal not only a total lack of remorse but eager expectation of more violence,” the government’s sentencing memorandum states.
Trial records show that in one text, the North Carolina man hankered for an armed civil war and that it would coincide with the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
“Regrettably, it appears that a civil war is almost certain now. There are rumors that the next gathering will be on the 20th, and individuals will be carrying firearms this time,” Gietzen expressed. “This assembly will occur whether or not Trump is involved. We are not his subordinates, and if he decides to yield to election deceit, that would be treason. We cannot give up when it concerns the fate of the world.”
People also brought firearms on Jan. 6. Several defendants have admitted to having a weapon including Mark Mazza, Guy Reffitt, Chris Alberts and Jerod Thomas Barger and others. Additionally, a large stockpile of firearms, rifles, and ammunition was brought by Oath Keepers although they left the weapons outside Washington, D.C., and hid guns at a hotel in nearby northern Virginia.
Gietzen wanted to ensure that no one else received recognition for the group’s actions.
“By the way, they are attempting to attribute the storming of Congress to antifa in the news… nonsense. I was there in the corridor assisting in pushing the line of guards back. Today was completely the result of normal individuals getting angry, and the next protest will go even further,” he wrote after Jan. 6.
He was taken into custody in May 2022.
After he was found guilty of the assault charges in August, Nichols instructed Gietzen to go to prison while awaiting sentencing.
He did not. And he also did not show up for his initial sentencing appointment.
A warrant for his arrest was released in November, and Gietzen was eventually apprehended at his mother’s residence in North Carolina about a month later on December 12. His defense attorney argued that Gietzen was unaware that he was supposed to surrender. Prosecutors were highly doubtful in a footnote of their sentencing memo, noting that Gietzen’s lawyer had assured the judge that he could at the very least convey the surrender date to his family members — the same family members the 31-year-old was residing with.
Following his arrest, he remained in custody until his sentencing this week.