A South Paris man was charged Tuesday with four criminal counts in connection with the attack on the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Todd Tilley Photo by Maine State Police
Todd Tilley, who turned 61 this month has been charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
All four charges are misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine not to exceed $100,000 for the most serious offenses.
According to court records filed in the U.S. District Court in Portland, Steven Fleenor, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation assigned to the Maine Joint Terrorism Task Force in Portland, studied video footage and still photographs taken during the Jan. 6 insurrection and identified Tilley through those images.
In addition, Fleenor’s sworn statement notes that on Jan. 7, 2021, an “individual posted a video titled ‘The Insurrection of The United States Capitol,” to YouTube under the username Jayden X.”
That video was taken down, but Fleenor’s statement said it depicted a large crowd climbing stairs leading to the Upper West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol, people entering the Capitol building through the Senate Wing doors, and crowds walking around inside the Capitol hallways.
“The video captures several clashes with individuals and law enforcement, including the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt outside the Speaker’s Lobby, adjacent to the House chambers,” Fleenor said. In the minutes leading up to the shooting, the video “showed rioters attempting to breach the door to the House Chamber. The camera then pans to individuals standing in the hallway just outside the House chamber and captures an individual wearing glasses and a red hooded sweatshirt,” at 2:38 p.m., he said.
Fleenor interviewed Tilley’s brother on Aug. 20, 2021, and showed him the picture from the Jayden X video, and Tilley’s brother identified the person in the picture as Todd Tilley.
“Tilley’s brother further indicated that he was aware that Tilley attended the rally prior to the Capitol riot but did not know whether Tilley had entered the Capitol building,” Fleenor said. The brother provided the FBI with a screenshot of text messages sent between the brothers during the midst of the incursion.
According to court records, Todd Tilley shared photos with his brother, who asked him if he was there. Tilley replied: “Yes. Pence screwed us over.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate were meeting – at 1 p.m. joint session – to certify the Electoral College vote count for the 2020 presidential election. A half-hour later, they briefly adjourned to their respective chambers.
According to Fleenor’s affidavit, Vice President Mike Pence had been presiding over the joint session and was presiding in the Senate chamber when a large crowd gathered outside the Capitol. Barricades had been set up around the building, and its exterior doors were locked.
At 2 p.m., members of the crowd forced their way into the Capitol through doors and breaking windows, and were filmed assaulting members of the U.S. Capitol Police. Within 20 minutes, members of the House and Senate evacuated the chambers.
TRACKED BY HIS CELLPHONE
According to Fleenor’s statement, the FBI obtained photos of Tilley helping another person climb a wall to reach the stairs leading to the Upper West Terrace. Closed-circuit video and photographs showed Tilley entering the first floor of the Capitol through the Senate Wing doors at 2:24 p.m., minutes after the chambers were evacuated.
In that photo, Tilley is seen using his cellphone.
The FBI was able to track Tilley’s phone inside the Capitol, confirming it was his phone number with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department and the Maine Department of Labor, where Tilley had used that number to file an unemployment claim.
Additional closed-circuit video shows Tilley entering the Crypt from the north side and walking near the Capitol’s Memorial Door to the south, before he and others were turned back by law enforcement officers.
He was photographed in crowds in a number of other places inside the Capitol and left the building at 2:53 p.m.
In all, the FBI included eight images of Tilley outside and inside the Capitol building, along with a video showing “Tilley joining with the crowd in shouting, ‘Stop the steal,'” in Fleenor’s statement, which was used to prove probable cause for an arrest warrant.
According to Fleenor, the images and the statement by Tilley’s brother were enough probable cause to charge him with the four misdemeanor crimes.
The arrest warrant was signed on Thursday last week and Tilley was taken into custody Tuesday.
According to Kristen Setera, of the FBI Boston Division’s Office of Public Affairs, Tilley made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Portland on Tuesday and was released. He is scheduled to appear through a virtual hearing in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
RAPE CONVICTION
In 1986, Tilley was convicted of rape in the first degree in the Bronx borough of New York City, and sentenced to serve between two and six years in prison, followed by a period of probation. He is a lifetime registrant on the Maine Sexual Offender Registry.
He is the fifth man with Maine ties to have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection. The others are Kyle Fitzsimons, 37, of Lebanon; Glen Mitchell Simon, 30, a former Minot resident, who moved to Georgia; Nicholas P. Hendrix, 34, of Gorham; and Joshua Colgan, 35, of Jefferson.
According to the United States Department of Justice file of Capitol Breach cases, Fitzsimons has been in jail since he was arrested in February 2021. He was indicted by a federal grand jury that month on 10 charges, including two counts of inflicting bodily injury on officers who were keeping guard at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Simon has been charged with four federal misdemeanors including knowingly entering a restricted building and with violent entry and disorderly conduct at the Capitol. The Department of Justice, according to a plea agreement reached in April, said Simon entered a guilty plea.
Hendrix, a father of five, was arrested in May 2021, and charged with four federal misdemeanor charges. His attorney has publicly stated that Hendrix is a veteran who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Hendrix remains free on personal recognizance, according to the Department of Justice.
Colgan, who initially denied entering the Capitol building, was arrested on May 2, 2022, in Wiscasset and is facing four criminal charges tied to his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 attack — knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Press Herald Staff Writer Dennis Hoey contributed to this story.
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