Police body camera video shows Henry “Hank” Muntzer, of Dillon, Montana, inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo courtesy US Attorney’s Office)
A Dillon man was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison for his role in breaching the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, following his conviction on one felony and four misdemeanor counts earlier this year.
Henry Phillip “Hank” Muntzer, 55, will have to serve a year of supervised release and pay $2,000 in restitution in addition to his two-year prison sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. His sentencing came more than 3 ½ years after he was initially arrested on Jan. 18, 2021, nearly two weeks after the Capitol riot.
Muntzer was originally convicted of two felonies – obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder – in February. A judge also found him guilty of four misdemeanors, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
But after the U.S. Supreme Court in June issued a ruling saying that some obstruction of an official proceeding counts could not be used to charge people who entered restricted Capitol grounds that day, the government asked the court to dismiss his conviction on that felony count at his sentencing hearing.
Muntzer traveled with friends to Washington, D.C., to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 ahead of Congress’ vote to ratify the electoral votes that would make Joe Biden the next president, according to court records. Trump and his campaign held the rally in his ongoing effort to falsely declare the election was “stolen” and that he was the true winner.
According to court filings in the case, Muntzer joined the crowd following the rally that broke through police barriers onto the Capitol plaza. As the rioters continued pushing toward the Capitol doors, Muntzer went with them up the Capitol stairs to reach an upper terrace.
While on the terrace, he recorded videos in which he discussed taking “the Capitol by storm” and then entered the Capitol. According to the government, he went through the Capitol Rotunda toward the Senate chambers and helped other rioters push against officers who were blocking their path to the chambers.
He also helped push against officers who were blocking a different doorway that went up to another terrace inside the Capitol. One officer was pushed down the stairs, according to charging documents.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Muntzer was inside the Capitol for nearly 40 minutes, resisted leaving the building, and “was one of the very last rioters present in the area.”
Muntzer is one of more than 1,500 people nationwide who have been charged with crimes tied to the Capitol breach and riot that day. The FBI’s Salt Lake City office, Helena Resident Agency, and Washington field office investigated the case with assistance from U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.