Pa.’s conviction was vacated on one of two charges in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot case

A federal appeals court has overturned part of the conviction of a Clinton County man charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol in Washington.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Monday granted the government and defense’s joint motion in the case of Brian Gundersen, 30, of Lock Haven.

The charge of obstructing an official proceeding was dropped, but not the count of assault or obstructing officers.

The official procedure was a meeting of Congress as an electoral college to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Gundersen was sentenced to concurrent terms of 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, but has been released pending his appeal.

The basis of the joint motion to vacate the obstruction count was a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in June that it must include evidence that defendants attempted to tamper with or destroy documents.

The decision was made at the request of former North Cornwall Twp., Lebanon County Police Officer Joseph Fischer.

A judge released Gundersen from jail in April, noting that he had served six months and that if the obstruction conviction were to be vacated, his remaining sentence could be recalculated to less time than he had served.

Gundersen was found guilty in November 2022 in a trial without a jury and certain facts.

He claimed that his behavior during the attack included jumping into a riot shield.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Juman wrote in a brief last December opposing Gundersen’s release pending appeal:

“He yelled at police officers and entered the Capitol twice. After leaving the Capitol, he remained in the crowd of rioters and tried to reenter the building.

“His violent behavior has incited and emboldened other violent rioters around him.

“After the riot, instead of feeling remorse, Gundersen was proud of his actions.

“He justified his ‘resort to violence,’ calling himself and the other rioters ‘heroes’ and ‘patriots’ who tried to ‘take over the government’ by ‘rambling into the Capitol.’”

The appeals court’s decision remanded Gundersen’s case to the federal court for the District of Columbia for further proceedings.

Gundersen, a former high school football player in upstate New York, was living in State College when the Capitol riot occurred.