Woodland Park Man Receives Final Jail Verdict For His Role in Capitol Attack
By Trevor Phipps
Robert “Machine Gun Bobby” Gieswein, a former resident of Woodland Park, learned his fate last week after being locked up behind bars for nearly two and a half years.
After pleading guilty to assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, a judge handed Gieswein a sentence of four years in prison, three years of supervised probation, and to pay $2,000 in restitution.
The sentencing puts a closure to Teller County’s most pronounced criminal link to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Gieswein is one of more than 1,000 people who have been arrested in connection with Jan. 6, 2001 attack on the Capitol.
Gieswein, a former Woodland Park resident, was known to carry rifles in different businesses and during various events around town. He gained the nickname “Machine Gun Bobby” for his antics, and had a fairly high profile image in the community. He was involved in some of the local protests against gun control and the pandemic restrictions.
Gieswein was charged with four counts of assault to a police officer shortly after the 2021 riot and then turned himself in to the Teller County Jail on Jan. 18, 2021.
Last March, Gieswein pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer. According to court records, Gieswein pepper sprayed police officers and was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol building from a window.
On Jan. 6, 2021 Gieswein drove from his home in Woodland Park to Washington D.C. and joined a group of Proud Boys members. “Admittedly caught up in the emotions and energy of the moment and falling prey to mob mentality, Robert stopped thinking rationally and accepted a can of pepper spray by an unknown protestor,” court documents stated, according to The Colorado Sun. “Then, acting completely contrary to the character he displayed throughout his entire life up until this moment, Robert joined the large mob, and took aggressive actions toward some members of the police.”
“I was very emotional and I was not behaving appropriately,” Gieswein wrote. “It was not my intention to hurt the police. I was mad and wanted them out of the way.”
Under one possible scenario, since Gieswein has already served a good portion of his four year sentence, he could be released in the next few months.
Also, the Republican front-runner in the race for the White House, Donald Trump, has vowed to pardon many of those convicted for their actions during the riot at the Capitol.
