Littleton man convicted of charges related to Jan. 6 US Capitol riot
DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado man was found guilty Wednesday alongside two Utah men in Washington, D.C., of charges related to the riot and breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, Patrick Montgomery, 51, of Littleton, was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting/resisting/impeding certain officers, both felonies. Montgomery was initially arrested on Jan. 17, 2021, in Littleton and pleaded not guilty to all counts on April 21, 2021.
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The breach of the U.S. Capitol disrupted a joint session of Congress that was convened to certify the 2020 presidential election results. Federal reports show that at least 18 people with Colorado ties have been arrested and charged in connection to events of that day.
Montgomery and the two Utah men will be sentenced on July 2. The three were convicted following a stipulated bench trial and were tried together because they at least began the day together on Jan. 6, 2021.
Specific allegations of wrongdoing during Jan. 6 riot
According to facts stipulated in the trial, Montgomery and the two Utah men met at the Yours Truly hotel in D.C. on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021. They walked together to the Washington Monument to listen to the speakers at the “Stop the Steal” rally.
Afterward, the trio went to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol building and crossed into the restricted perimeter.
At 2:02 p.m., Montgomery was seen grabbing a law enforcement officer’s baton and attempting to wrestle it away from the officer. Both fell to the ground and wrestled over the baton while the two Utah men watched nearby. Montgomery is also accused of kicking the police officer in the chest during the fight.
After this, the trio ascended to the Upper West Terrace stairs with a “mass of individuals,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of D.C.
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The crowd approached the Upper West Terrace exterior double doors, which were propped open. An alarm was sounding and “people were screaming,” according to the USAO. The trio allegedly entered the Capitol building at approximately 2:35 p.m.
At about 2:40 p.m., the three walked together in the hallway on the third floor towards the Senate Gallery, at which point one of the Utah men stated, according to the USAO, in substance:
“We have a right to choose our electors. We’re not going to have communist China choose them for us. We’re not going to have the Democratic Party choose them for us.”
Court documents say that Montgomery and the second Utah man were a few feet away when this statement was made.
At about 2:43 p.m., the three men entered the Senate Gallery and the second Utah man shouted “Treason,” repeatedly with others in the area. That man then took a “black bag containing escape hoods and protective equipment that a user puts over his head to prevent breathing in smoke or contaminated air, which were government property,” according to the USAO. The other two men were near him when he took the bag, which was later discarded.
After leaving the Senate Gallery, the trio proceeded to the second floor to an area near the Senate Floor, where they confronted a U.S. Capitol Police officer.
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Montgomery allegedly yelled at the Capitol officer: “You gotta stop doing your job sometime and start being American. You gotta quit doing your job and be an American!”
The other two also yelled at the Capitol officer. At approximately 2:53 p.m., the trio left the Capitol building.
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