A Republican who ran for the Maine Senate last year was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges after allegedly assaulting officers during the U.S. Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021.
Matthew Brackley, 39, was arrested in his hometown Waldoboro on Friday. A criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia includes felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and civil disorder.
Brackley is the most notable of the eight Mainers charged so far in the Capitol riots, during which supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the building as Congress certified President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. He ran against Maine Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, in a 2022 election in which he lost with 42 percent of votes.
“I do not have any comment at this time other than to say that I respect law enforcement and have never assaulted anyone,” he said in a Facebook message on Friday.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Brackley traveled from Maine to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall, prosecutors said in court documents. After the rally, Brackley walked to the Capitol, arriving on the west lawn at about 1:40 p.m., where a large crowd gathered. Brackley stood in the crowd near where a police line had formed to keep them from advancing to the Capitol.
The complaint against Brackley said he then approached a set of stairs underneath scaffolding erected to construct the inaugural stage. Rioters climbed on the scaffolding and tore the white tarp covering it, giving Brackley and others easier access to the stairs. Brackley and other rioters flooded the stairs and advanced toward the Capitol.
Brackley entered the U.S. Capitol via the Senate wing doors at 2:23 p.m., only ten minutes after they were first breached. Brackley then made his way to the Capitol Crypt, the room under the rotunda where a large group of rioters had assembled and were pushing against police lines. The rioters then pushed past police and further into the Crypt.
Police stopped Brackley and the rioters again as they made their way toward the Senate chamber. Court records say that police instructed Brackley and others to “back up,” but Brackley asked the officers where the Speaker of the House’s office was located.
Brackley then turned to the crowd behind him and shouted, “Let’s go!” He then moved forward, using both arms to push through the officers before him, prosecutors say.
Brackley then led the crowd toward the Senate chamber and was again halted by police. Officers deployed chemical spray causing Brackley and other rioters to retreat from the area. Brackley left the Capitol building at approximately 3:05 p.m.
Brackley is one of nearly 1,100 people from across the U.S. who have been arrested for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
Brackley’s misdemeanor charges are 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; and parading, picketing, and demonstrating in a capitol building.
Brackley’s arrest came one week after Kyle Fitzsimons, 39, of Lebanon, was sentenced to seven years in prison for assaulting law enforcement during the riots. Fitzsimons was the first Mainer arrested in the riots, and his charge is among the longest given out so far nationally.
In May 2021, Nicholas Patrick Hendrix, 34, of Gorham was the second Mainer accused of illegally entering during the Jan. 6 riot. Since he was charged, a handful of other Mainers, including men from South Paris and Biddeford, have been arrested for forcing their way into the Capitol. Their charges range from misdemeanor disorderly conduct to felony assault.