12 June 2024
A Sanford man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly assaulting law enforcement during the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
Christopher Belliveau, 38, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in Washington, D.C., with five felony offenses and three misdemeanors, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI arrested Belliveau on Tuesday in Berwick, and he is expected to make his initial appearance Wednesday in Washington.
At around 2:10 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021, Belliveau allegedly approached police with a group of rioters, pointed at an officer before walking away, then returned with what appears to be a green canister of bear mace and sprayed the officer he had pointed at before fleeing, according to court documents. The officer chased after Belliveau but was knocked down by another rioter.
Belliveau allegedly later breached the Capitol with other rioters, as shown on surveillance video.
Belliveau is the latest Mainer to face charges related to the assault on the U.S. Capitol, when rioters supporting Donald Trump attempted to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. More than 1,450 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach, according to the Department of Justice.
Belliveau’s five felony charges include civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and engaging in physical violence in restricted building or on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
His three misdemeanor offenses are disorderly conduct in a capitol building; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol buildings.