A Littleton man faces federal charges after tipsters identified him standing in the chambers of the U.S. Senate in photos of the mob that overran the U.S. Capitol during the certification of the presidential election.
Federal prosecutors charged Patrick Montgomery, 48, with knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building on Jan. 6 as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
A person who was friends with Montgomery on Facebook posted a screenshot of an image of the crowd inside the Capitol to Montgomery’s Facebook page and asked if it was Montgomery, according to Montgomery’s arrest affidavit. Montgomery responded that he had nothing to hide.
Another acquaintance emailed Montgomery and told him he had been reported to the FBI for his part in the riot. Montgomery responded to the email and said he was “not a scaredy cat” and was not afraid because he had good lawyers, according to the affidavit.
“Im (sic) so deeply covered by the best Federal Defense lawyers in the country in case you chicken (expletive) cry boys don’t want it takes to defend our freedom from these corrupt politicians,” Montgomery wrote in an email, according to the arrest affidavit. “I didn’t storm the castle violently. My group was let in peacefully by the police we were talking to with respect. We came a(n)d left peacefully before the anarchist and Antifa showed up breaking (expletive) and being hoodlums.”
The FBI has publicly stated there was no indication that members of antifa were involved in the Capitol riot.
Montgomery also posted a selfie to his Facebook during his flight to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5. Another tipster shared a post Montgomery made to Facebook stating, “We stormed the Senate… opened those Chamber door for Transparency!”
The posts about the trip to Washington and the Capitol riot have since been deleted.
Montgomery’s posts to his Facebook page focused primarily on hunting mountain lions and elk. He listed his occupation as a professional hunting guide consultant.
On Nov. 9, six days after the election, Montgomery posted on Facebook about the results.
“70 million pissed off Republicans … no riots, nothing burning, no mostly peaceful protests,” he wrote. “Because they are Americans … Guess we’ll go to work today and continue to support the rest of the country.”
Court records show Montgomery was arrested in connection to the charges. He is expected to appear for an initial court appearance 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Montgomery is the fourth Coloradan arrested in connection to the riots at the Capitol.
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