A Colorado man pleaded guilty Monday to using a chemical spray to attack police officers who were trying to hold off the mob at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Robert Gieswein, of Woodland Park, is scheduled to be sentenced June 9. Estimated sentencing guidelines for Gieswein recommend a prison sentence ranging from three years and five months to four years and three months, according to his plea agreement.
Gieswein was wearing a helmet, flak jacket and goggles and carrying a baseball bat when he stormed the Capitol. He marched to the building from the Washington Monument with members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group.
Gieswein, 26, repeatedly sprayed an “aerosol irritant” at police officers, pushed against a line of police and was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol, according to a court filing accompanying his guilty plea to assault charges.
Federal authorities have said Gieswein appeared to be an adherent of the Three Percenters militia movement and ran a private paramilitary training group called the Woodland Wild Dogs.
Nearly 1,000 people have been charged so far in the riot. Sentences have ranged from probation for people who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor crimes to 10 years in prison for a retired New York Police Department officer who used a metal flagpole to assault an officer.