Man sentenced to 6 years in prison for attacking police with pole at Capitol
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who became a fugitive after a federal jury convicted him of assaulting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison.
David Joseph Gietzen, 31, of Sanford, North Carolina, struck a police officer with a pole during a mob’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Gietzen told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that he didn’t intend to hurt anybody that day. But he didn’t express any regret or remorse for his actions on Jan. 6, when he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters in interrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
“I have to make it explicitly known that I believe I did the right thing,” he said before learning his sentence.
The judge said Gietzen made it clear during his trial testimony — and his sentencing hearing — that he clings to his baseless beliefs that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.