Biddeford man sentenced to more than four years for assaulting officers during Jan. 6 Capitol breach

A Biddeford man was sentenced to more than four years in prison today on Monday after previously pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement with a weapon during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

Christopher Maurer, 45, formerly of Biddeford was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge James E. Boasberg to 50 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution. Maurer pleaded guilty to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon on July 23, 2024.

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Maurer was among a crowd of rioters amassed on the Lower West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol building near an area known as the Tunnel, the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement that day. Court documents say that Maurer entered the Tunnel and made his way to the front of the police line. Here, Maurer confronted a group of police officers who were preventing further access into the Capitol.

 While inside the Tunnel, Maurer grabbed onto a police riot shield being used by an officer and attempted to rip it away. Maurer also attempted to use his body to push against officers in the Tunnel and exited after approximately eight minutes.

 At about 3:50 p.m., Maurer returned to the Tunnel entrance and added his body weight, force, and momentum to a coordinated "Heave-ho" push against the police line and grabbed onto a canister of chemical irritant held by another rioter. Maurer also helped another rioter deploy chemical irritant from a stolen police-issued cannister of OC spray. A short while later, Maurer returned and threw two stick-like objects at the line of police officers, while repeatedly extending his middle finger to the police and yelling obscenities. Court documents say that one of the sticks ricocheted off the Tunnel wall and struck a police officer in the helmet. Maurer also used a cellphone cord that he then whipped at officers inside the Tunnel.

 The FBI arrested Maurer on Feb. 22, 2023, in Maine.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting this case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maine provided valuable assistance.

The FBI's Boston and Washington Field Offices investigated this case. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the 46 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,561 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 590 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

Story courtesy of U.S. District Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia.