Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 34
- Location
- Wheat Ridge, Colorado
- Charges
- Civil Disorder; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings
- Case status
- Pleaded not guilty; Dismissed in part or full
Case Summary
According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, at approximately 2:15 pm, police body-worn camera footage show Matthew Melsen reaching over bike rack barricades and pushing a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer a couple of times. At around 3:55 pm, Melsen was inside the Lower West Terrace Tunnel where he allegedly grabbed an MPD officer's stick with other rioters until the stick broke, then later tried to prevent another officer from using his baton to stop approaching rioters. Melsen was arrested on Feb. 28, 2024, in Wheat Ridge, Colo.
Case History
Melsen pleaded Not Guilty to all charges. On 1/23/2025, the court ordered that the case is dismissed without prejudice.
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.