Federal prosecutors have charged another Maine resident in the storming of the U.S. Capitol more than two years ago, alleging he swung a large pole at officers and interfered with them as they tried to help another individual experiencing a medical emergency.

Christopher Maurer, 45, was arrested Wednesday in Westbrook and charged with seven counts related to civil disorder, assaulting officers with a deadly weapon and illegally entering and committing violent acts on restricted grounds.

He is the sixth person with Maine ties to be charged in the riot, which occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of people descended upon the U.S. Capitol as Congress was voting to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Maurer had his first appearance Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Portland, during which he waived his rights to have additional hearings in Maine. He will immediately be transported by the U.S. Marshals Service to Washington, D.C., where he will be assigned a new public defense attorney and the prosecution will be turned over to the local U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Maurer was living at a rental property in Biddeford, according to court records, but had abandoned the property by January 2022 and was later believed to be living out of his 1999 gold Ford Expedition.

Maurer was still wearing his own clothes as officers from the U.S. Marshals Service secured shackles around Maurer’s waist and placed him in handcuffs.

Maurer could face up to 37 years behind bars, according to U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Wolf. The most severe of his charges, a Class C count of assaulting, resisting and impeding certain officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon, carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

Maurer did not have to enter a plea Wednesday but did interrupt Wolf at one point to object to the allegations that he was captured on video swinging a pole at police.

“That never happened,” Maurer said.

The FBI used surveillance, body camera and other video to track Maurer as he walked around the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol that afternoon. The FBI first identified him as “150-AFO” after seeing him confront police at least twice in a 90-minute period.

Around 3:00 p.m., investigators said, Maurer made his way through the mob, entering a tunnel on the Lower West Terrace and reaching the police barricade. That’s when he grabbed at an officer’s shield and struck officers who were helping another rioter who was experiencing a medical emergency, according to court documents.

The FBI said Maurer stayed in the tunnel for several minutes before leaving at 3:08 p.m. He came back about 90 minutes later.

This time, the affidavit stated, he was screaming and making obscene gestures at officers. Police sprayed him with pepper spray before he picked up what appeared to be a long metal pipe from the ground and swung it at the line of officers.

The affidavit does not say if he injured anyone.

Maurer then showed police both of his middle fingers and shouted expletives at them before leaving the tunnel a few minutes later.

TWO-YEAR SEARCH

It took two years for law enforcement to take Maurer into custody.

FBI Special Agent Kurt Ormberg, who wrote the affidavit, said investigators were able to verify Maurer’s identity using public tips, interviews with a former neighbor in Biddeford, police records and data from his cellphone carrier and bank account.

Law enforcement first reached out to the Biddeford Police Department in September 2021 asking about calls for service at his address after identifying Maurer’s phone number among the thousands of others that used cell towers in or near the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

The following March, investigators learned he had abandoned his home in Biddeford months before. A manager and another tenant at the complex identified Maurer in photos from the Capitol riot, according to the affidavit.

At some point, investigators also accessed his bank records, which included a purchase at a Dunkin’ coffee shop in Washington shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, about an hour after he was seen leaving the tunnel.

Maurer also paid a car rental company in Saco $318 to lease a car from Jan. 4 to Jan. 7, 2021. The car’s license plate, according to the affidavit, was seen around 8 p.m. on Jan. 6 within a five-minute drive of the Capitol grounds.

Until his arrest Wednesday, Maurer had last been seen by police in Falmouth in January and February.

Nearly a thousand individuals have been arrested and charged with breaching the U.S. Capitol, and a little more than 300 of those defendants have been accused or convicted of assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Of the six people arrested with ties to Maine, two have been convicted of serious offenses.

Kyle Fitzsimons, 37 of Lebanon, was found guilty on 11 charges and is scheduled to be sentenced in April. He was originally scheduled for sentencing this month but had to request a new court date after his publicly appointed defense attorney resigned following his conviction.

Glen Mitchell Simon, 30, a former Minot resident who moved to Georgia, was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to his role in the riot.

Nicholas Hendrix, 35, of Gorham, pleaded guilty last year to participating in the attack and was sentenced to 30 days in prison. Todd Tilley, 61, of South Paris, was charged with four criminal counts for his participation. Joshua Colgan, 35, of Jefferson pleaded guilty in January under a deal with prosecutors to parading, demonstrating or picketing a Capitol building and now faces up to six months in prison.

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