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Brian Gundersen, age 28, who graduated from Byram Hills High School in Armonk and played varsity football during his time there, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Tuesday, July 25 for his role in the breach of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to the US Department of Justice.
Gundersen, who now lives in State College, Pennsylvania, had been charged in connection to the riot after investigators saw his high school letterman’s jacket in photos and videos from the incident.
According to federal officials, before arriving in Washington, DC, Gundersen had asked on Facebook if anyone was "going to DC on the 6th" and also suggested, "We might be able to bum rush the white house and take it over.”
On the day of the incident, Gundersen entered the Capitol grounds illegally and joined a mob of rioters who were climbing the Northwest Steps.
Around 2:30 p.m., Gundersen climbed up a window in the Capitol's Northwest Courtyard next to the Senate Wing Door and shouted at officers inside the Capitol building.
Minutes later, around 2:45 p.m., Gundersen joined a mob entering the building and was one of the first rioters to enter through the Parliamentarian Door. As other rioters confronted officers, Gundersen waved more through the door.
He then entered the Parliamentarian’s Office and saw fellow rioters ransacking the room in addition to wrecking furniture, stealing, and throwing papers to the floor, federal officials said.
He spent around eight minutes in the office and wrote a note, writing, "sowwy for damage" with a crying emoticon. He then kept moving through the building until being forced out by officers just after 3 p.m.
After this, Gundersen still returned to the Northwest Courtyard and managed to reenter the Capitol before being forced out by officers a second time. He remained on the grounds and moved to the Northwest Terrace, where he joined a mob confronting officers trying to clear the area.
While with this mob, Gundersen rushed an officer and hit them in the arm before being pushed back by another officer with a riot shield.
In the days after the incident, Gundersen posted about the attack on social media, saying, "We all stormed the us capital and tried to take over the government." Additionally, he also posted a picture of Congress members taking cover during the attack and captioned it, "Look at these scared little bitches.”
Gundersen was caught by investigators after a police chief in North Castle told the FBI that the Superintendent of the Byram Hills Central School District had noticed that one of the rioters caught on camera at the Capitol building was wearing one of the district’s jackets.
Later that day, the police chief then told the FBI that Gundersen, who had been known to local law enforcement, might be the person in the photo, which eventually led to his arrest.
Gundersen was found guilty of two felony charges on Nov. 9, 2022. In addition to his sentence, he will also be required to serve 36 months of supervised release and will have to pay $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol.
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