A Maine man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and other charges related to his alleged conduct during the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. His alleged 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.
Andre Maurice Bonneau, 64, of Lewiston, Maine, is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with felony offences of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder.
In addition to the felonies, Bonneau is charged with misdemeanour offences of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
The FBI arrested Bonneau in Maine, and he will make his initial appearance in the District of Maine.
According to court documents, Bonneau was seen in open-source and police body-worn camera footage on January 6, 2021, approaching a bike rack barricade separating officers from rioters on the West Front of Capitol grounds. Officers had previously assembled a police line at this location to prevent rioters from encroaching further on the grounds as the riot developed.
At this location, video footage showed Bonneau allegedly disregarding police orders to “get back.” Instead, Bonneau turned his back to officers along the line, grabbed the bike rack, and used his body weight to push the bike rack into officers in an apparent attempt to breach the police line.
For approximately the next 20 seconds, video footage showed Bonneau struggling with officers over the bike rack as he attempted to lift and remove the barricade from the police line. In response to his actions, officers defended themselves by using their riot batons against and deploying a chemical irritant in Bonneau’s direction. Court documents say that the officers successfully repelled Bonneau’s advance, and he retreated.
