WASHINGTON — A North Carolina man was arrested today for assaulting law enforcement officers during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His and others’ actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
David Joseph Gietzen, 38, of Sanford, North Carolina, is charged in an indictment with a total of eight counts, including one charging him with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, two charging him with assaulting resisting or impeding officers, and related offenses. The indictment was unsealed today in the District of Columbia. Gietzen was arrested in Sanford and is to make his initial appearance today in the Middle District of North Carolina.
According to the indictment, Gietzen was illegally on the restricted Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. He is accused of assaulting multiple law enforcement officers between 2:13 p.m. and 2:31 p.m. that day, using a pole in the last of the charged attacks.
This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, which identified Gietzen as #217 in its seeking information photos, and the Raleigh Resident Agency of the FBI’s Charlotte Field Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.
In the 16 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 250 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
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Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
An indictment or complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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