A man who became a fugitive after a federal jury convicted him of assaulting a police officer during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison.
David Joseph Gitzen, 31, of Sanford, North Carolina, struck a police officer with a pole as a mob stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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Gitzen told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that he did not intend to hurt anyone that day. But he has expressed no remorse for his actions on January 6, when he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters to disrupt a joint session of the House and Senate to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. He did not express any remorse.
“I have to make it clear that I believe I did the right thing,” he said before hearing the verdict.
The judge said Gietzen made it clear in his trial testimony and sentencing hearing that he adhered to his baseless belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.
“Mr. Gitzen was essentially unapologetic about his actions today,” Nichols said.
This image is from a U.S. Capitol Police video included and annotated in the Justice Department’s statement of facts supporting the arrest warrant for David Joseph Gietzen, showing Gietzen, circled in yellow, It shows officers pushing their shields in the police line in front of them. January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol in Washington. A fugitive North Carolina man has been sentenced to six years in prison after a federal jury found him guilty of assaulting a police officer during the U.S. Capitol riot. (Department of Justice, via AP)
Last August, a jury found Gietzen guilty of eight charges, including assault and treason. After being found guilty at trial, Gietzen ignored a court order to report to prison on October 20, 2023 while awaiting sentencing. He missed several hearings before being arrested at his mother’s home in North Carolina on December 12, 2023.
“Gietzen’s pattern of ignoring rules and laws and doing what he wants regardless of the consequences,” prosecutors said in a court filing.
Defense attorney Ira Knight said Gietzen appeared to be staying at home and “just waiting to be picked up” and did not try to run or hide from authorities after his conviction.
Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 10 years and one month in prison for Gietzen, who worked as a computer programming engineer after graduating from North Carolina State University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and electrical engineering.
“It is clear that Gitzen is intelligent and capable of accomplishing anything if he puts his mind to it, whether it’s earning a college degree or assaulting a police officer as part of a violent mob,” prosecutors wrote. There is.
Gietzen’s lawyer asked for a four-year prison sentence.
“David’s current philosophy is that he no longer wants to be involved in the political process,” the defense attorney wrote. “His involvement in politics has ended and he should demonstrate to the court that he is no longer interested in posing a threat to the public or the political process.”
Gitzen traveled from his home in North Carolina to Washington, D.C., with his brother. He attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 and then marched to the Capitol.
As a crowd of Trump supporters overwhelmed police lines in the West Square of the Capitol, Mr. Gietzen shoved one officer, grabbed another officer’s gas mask and struck him with a pole.
“And all of Gietzen’s violence was based on a lack of respect for law enforcement and the democratic process. The goal was to get himself and other rioters closer to the building in order to disrupt the certification of the election. ” the prosecutor wrote.
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Gietzen later bragged about his participation in the riot in a message to friends and relatives, saying he had “never been more proud to be an American.”
More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 800 of them have been sentenced, with about two-thirds receiving sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years.
