Monday marks the fourth anniversary of the January 6, 2021, United States Capitol Attack where a crowd of rioters supporting President-elect Donald Trump sought to protest or prevent the certification of the 2020 election results where Trump lost to Joe Biden.
Since the attack, more than 1,500 people have been accused of felony and misdemeanor crimes including assaulting police, a few cases of seditious conspiracy, unlawful parading and demonstrating, and other charges. Of those cases, nine individuals have direct Montana ties.
Trump’s 2024 reelection may significantly impact many Jan. 6 cases. While on the campaign trail, the president-elect has indicated he would pardon those convicted of crimes connected to the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. However, he has not gone into the specifics of those potential pardons. Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2025.
Of the nine individuals with direct Montana ties who have faced charges connected to Jan. 6, six have served time in prison and one case is outstanding.
Stewart Rhodes
Elmer Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oathkeepers, is one of the most prominent Jan. convictions. Rhodes was disbarred as an attorney in Montana. His estranged family still resides in the Treasure State and his son Dakota Adams ran as a Democrat for the Montana Legislature last election.
Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in November 2022 and is serving an 18-year prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland.
The prosecution during the trial alleged Rhodes and his co-defendants planned to use force to prevent Congress from formally certifying President Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.
Isaac Sturgeon
In September 2023, Isaac Sturgeon was sentenced to 6 years in prison after being convicted of more than a half dozen charges including assaulting police.
The Dillon native was captured on an officer's body-worn camera outside the capitol. In the video, he can be seen as part of a group that picked up a metal barricade and shoved it into a group of D.C. Metropolitan police officers.
Sturgeon is serving his sentence at a Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton, Ohio.
Frank Dahlquist
According to court documents, former Helena rural fire chief Frank Dahlquist is accused of pepper spraying and assaulting police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Investigators submitted pictures and video they say show Dahlquist, with his face covered, allegedly spraying “an orange-colored chemical agent” directly into the face of a police officer. Prosecutors also allege he was captured on a body-worn camera allegedly assaulting another police officer.
Dahlquist has entered a plea of not guilty and his case is scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 27, 2025.
Jerod and Joshua Hughes
According to the Department of Justice, East Helena brothers Joshua and Jerod Hughes were some of the first rioters to breach the Capitol that da. The men were at the front of the crowd as it moved through the Capitol. Pictures and video showed them encountering Officer Eugene Goodman who led rioters away from the Senate Chambers, which was still being evacuated at the time.
On Jan. 11, 2021, the Hughes brothers voluntarily turned themselves in to Helena Police after seeing news reports that the FBI was trying to identify them. Both brothers pleaded guilty to Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting.
Jerod Hughes was sentenced to 3 years and 10 months in detention. Joshua Hughes was sentenced to 3 years and 2 months, although that sentence was later reduced to 2 years and 9 months.
Hank Muntzer
Hank Muntzer of Dillon was sentenced to 2 years in prison for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
In February, Munzter was convicted of felony civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding. However, the obstruction of an official proceeding charge was later dismissed following a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Muntzer was sentenced to 24 months in prison and 12 months of supervised release. He surrendered himself to a detention facility in California on Jan 3, 2025.
Boyd Camper
Boyd Camper, formerly from the Missoula area, was sentenced to 60 days in prison for his action during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Camper signed a plea agreement in August 2021 admitting to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in Capitol buildings. The crime is a class B misdemeanor.
