HELENA — A trial date of August 30, 2022, has been set for Hank Muntzer of Dillon, who faces federal charges for alleged actions at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
A grand jury brought five charges against Muntzer last year - one felony and four misdemeanors.
Muntzer has been accused of felony obstruction of an official proceeding. He has also been accused of 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.
In court documents, federal investigators say Muntzer can be seen in the U.S. Capitol on footage captured by an MSNBC news crew. He is also accused of recording videos inside the U.S. Capitol and posting them to social media.
On Tuesday, Munzter’s lawyer and the federal prosecutor had asked for a 30-day continuance from Judge Amit P. Mehta in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia due to still waiting on some outstanding evidence to be provided to the defense.
However, Judge Mehta insisted a trial date be set for the fall given how busy his court is becoming with other Jan. 6-related trials and how long it had been since Muntzer was charged. Muntzer was arrested on January 18, 2021, on an FBI warrant.
Judge Mehta noted that an autumn trial date should account for any outstanding discovery and was open to adjusting the trial date if the government isn't able to provide the remaining evidence in a timely fashion, or if other circumstances arose.
Since his arrest, Muntzer has been adamant that he intends to fight the charges against him and he believes the videos he recorded will show that he did nothing wrong.
Muntzer told MTN previously he was there supporting former President Donald Trump and does not support violence against anyone.
Five other Montanans have been charged in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol; click here for details.
