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State College man sentenced for assaulting law enforcement officer during Jan. 6 attack

  • By Sydney Roach/WPSU
In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, pro-Trump insurrectionists storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

 Shafkat Anowar / AP Photo

In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, pro-Trump insurrectionists storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

A State College man was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for assaulting law enforcement during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021.

A U.S. district judge also sentenced Brian Gundersen to 36 months of supervised release and he will have to pay $2,000 in restitution.

According to court documents, Gundersen, 28, traveled with his mother to Washington D.C., to attend a rally. Before he got there, he 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.”

Gundersen was reportedly one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol through the Parliamentarian Door. He spent about eight minutes inside the Parliamentarian’s Office and wrote a note saying “sowwy for damage,” with a crying emoticon.

Gundersen was forced out of the Parliamentarian’s Office around 3:07 p.m. He then came back to the Northwest Courtyard and re-entered the Capitol and was again forced out by officers. Gundersen then joined a mob confronting officers at the Northwest Terrace, where he rushed and hit an officer with his arm.

Gundersen was found guilty on Nov. 9, 2022 of two felony charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers.

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