A midcoast man, who once ran for Maine Senate was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay $3,000 in fines after he pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Matthew Brackley, 40, of Waldoboro, was arrested on July 21, 2023, and pleaded guilty on Jan. 18 to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, a felony.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Brackley allegedly attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington D.C. and was among those who stormed the Capitol. While inside the building, he allegedly pushed his way through officers who were attempting to stop rioters from moving through the building, according to court records cited by the U.S. Department of Justice in a news release.
In the Senate Chamber, Brackley and others faced off with Capitol police, at which time Brackley asked where then-speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office was as others behind him shouted obscenities, according to the DOJ.
“Brackley turned to the crowd behind him and shouted, ‘Let’s go!’ He then leaned forward and, with both elbows extended outward, pushed through the two officers, leading the crowd behind him further into the hallway towards the Senate Chamber,” an account from the DOJ reads.
He was allegedly in the Capitol for 40 minutes and left only after police used a chemical spray in a hallway.
Brackley ran unsuccessfully against Maine Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli, D-Arrowsic, in 2022.
More than 1,424 people coming from nearly every U.S. state have been charged for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 500 people who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.