Byram Hills Grad Sentenced for Role in January 6 Capitol Riot
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A Byram Hills High School graduate was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D. C. announced on July 25 that Brian Gundersen, 28, who now lives in State College, Pa., was found guilty of two felonies – obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers. He was found guilty om a stipulated trial last November.
Hundreds of people stormed the Capitol disrupting a Joint Session of the U.S. Congress, which convened to count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.
According to authorities, Gundersen, a 2012 Byram Hills graduate, traveled with his mother from his State College, Pa. home, where he has lived, to Washington for Jan. 6, 2021. Before going, Gundersen asked on Facebook if anyone else was “going to DC on the 6th” and suggested, “we might be able to bum rush the white house and take it over.”
According to the stipulated facts revealed at his trial, Gundersen illegally entered the Capitol grounds, joining a mob of rioters climbing the Northwest Steps,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said. At about 2:30 p.m. that day, Gundersen climbed up to a window in the Northwest Courtyard, next to the Senate Wing Door. While there, he shouted at officers inside the Capitol building.
At about 2:42 p.m., Gundersen joined a mob entering the building. He was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol through the Parliamentarian Door. As rioters engaged in a confrontation with officers, Gundersen waved more into the door.
Gundersen then entered the Parliamentarian’s Office, authorities said. While inside, he saw rioters ransacking the room, wrecking furniture, stealing and throwing papers to the floor. He spent about eight minutes in the office and mockingly wrote a note “sowwy for damage.” Gundersen then continued moving through the building, being forced out by officers at about 3:07 p.m.
A short time later, Gundersen then returned to the Northwest Courtyard and re-entered the Capitol, where he was once again forced out by officers. He remained on the grounds, moving to the Northwest Terrace. There, he joined a mob that was confronting officers trying to clear that area.
Gundersen then rushed and hit an officer with his arm. He was pushed back by another officer using a riot shield.
In the aftermath of Jan. 6, he posted on social media, stating, among other things, “we all stormed the us capital and tried to take over the government” and posted a photo of members of Congress taking cover during the attack on the Capitol, along with the message, “Look at these scared little bitches.”
Gundersen was charged less than three weeks after the riot once tips were received by the FBI that linked him to an individual who was seen in a still photo on a CNN newscast in a Byram Hills football jacket. Tips from people who saw the jacket were received by the FBI, which contacted the bureau’s New York Operations Center. Within a week of the riot, the FBI had contacted the North Castle Police Department for assistance, according to the original complaint.
Gundersen’s sentence also includes $2,000 in restitution to the architect of the Capitol.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals across the United States have been arrested in connection with offense stemming from the breach of the U.S. Capitol, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reported. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The DOJ is continuing its investigation.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan presided over the trial.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/