An alleged Capitol rioter shot a mountain lion. Now he faces house arrest.
A Colorado man who allegedly participated in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is now accused of shooting a mountain lion – after a judge warned him he is not allowed to possess illegal firearms.
Patrick Montgomery was charged in January with illegally entering the Capitol and disorderly conduct during the riots, among other things, according to court documents.
Since his arrest, Montgomery has been on pre-trial release, but according to court documents, he has violated his release conditions, and prosecutors are seeking to revoke it.
In February, he was was ordered, among other things, "not [to] violate federal, state, or local law while on release," "do not commit any Federal or State crimes," and "do not possess illegal firearms," according to the documents.
Earlier this month, FBI Task Force Officer Michael Timmerman learned that Montgomery used a handgun to shoot a mountain lion at a Colorado Parks and Wildlife park in March.
"Montgomery is a convicted felon and is prohibited by law to carry a firearm, including a handgun," the documents state.
Montgomery had told an officer at the park that he killed a mountain lion with .357 magnum handgun. The officer ran a mandatory background check on Montgomery, and saw that he is a convicted felon. Montgomery pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery, each a third-degree felony, in 1996.
When he was contacted about this after the background check, Montgomery admitted he was convicted of felonies, but said he was granted a plea agreement that allowed him possession of firearms for the purposes of hunting and guiding.
However, he did not have copies of those forms, and could not prove that he is allowed possession of firearms, according to court documents.
This is not the first time Montgomery is accused of violating local laws while on pre-trial release. Earlier this year, he admitted to the parks officer that he and his dogs followed a bobcat for approximately 11 miles before his dogs killed the bobcat, which violates local hunting rules.
"Montgomery has no respect for the Court's orders, just like he had no respect for law enforcement at the Capitol on January 6," Acting United States Attorney Channing Phillips writes in the court documents.
"Instead of peacefully protesting, he tried to grab a Metropolitan Police Department officer's baton, wrestled him to the ground for it, and then kicked the officer in the chest while wearing a boot," Phillips said of Montgomery's alleged involvement in the riots. "After the officer regained control of his baton, Montgomery stood up, and held up his two middle fingers at the officer. "
Last week, the government and defense agreed on new on pre-trial release conditions for Montgomery. If approved by the court, he now faces home incarceration, which requires him to be restricted to 24-hour-a-day lock-down at his residence. He would also receive GPS monitoring and cannot possess firearms or participate in hunting.
Montgomery, who owns a hunting guide business called Pmonte Outdoors, shot the mountain lion on the last day of the 2020-21 mountain lion hunting season, CBS Denver reported.
He could face state charges of Illegal possession of wildlife and possession of a weapon by a previous offender, according to the affiliate. He also faces 15 counts in the Capitol riot case.
In April, a grand jury in Washington D.C. indicted Montgomery in a 10-count indictment for assaulting a Metropolitan Police Department officer, engaging in physical violence, illegally entering the Capitol and Senate Gallery, obstructing an official proceeding, and disorderly and disruptive conduct that occurred at the Capitol.
He was arraigned on those charges and has a status hearing set for July 28. He has a hearing set in the hunting case on May 19.