According to prosecutors, Michael Gerard Fournier is captured in this image from a video entering the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo from court records
A Portland man on Monday became the ninth Mainer arrested and charged in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot more than three years ago.
Michael Gerard Fournier was charged with knowingly entering a restricted building, demonstrating in a Capitol building and two counts of disorderly conduct, following his arrest in Portland on Monday. The date of his arraignment in a Washington, D.C., district court has not yet been set, according to court records.
Authorities have known for years that Fournier was one of the more than 2,000 rioters who forced their way into the U.S. Capitol building in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021 – through an attorney, Fournier admitted as much to investigators in December 2021, according to an FBI affidavit.
In his letter to the FBI, attorney Michael Zerillo said his client did not come across any signs explaining he could not enter the building and that “there was no attempt to stop the protestors … from entering.” Zerillo is no longer representing Fournier, according to court records that do not list a current attorney.
But according to the affidavit, there were plenty of clues that protesters were not allowed in the Capitol, including smashed window panes, a blaring alarm and lines of Capitol Police officers wearing riot gear.
The document includes 15 photos taken from security footage that prosecutors say show Fournier’s trip through the Capitol. He allegedly entered the building shortly after 3 p.m., about 50 minutes after it was first breached.
According to the affidavit, Fournier took out his cellphone to take photos or video of the Capitol Rotunda, which was filled with rioters decked out in paramilitary and Donald Trump gear. At one point, he can be seen holding a painting that another rioter handed him.
A photo appears to show Fournier attempting to leave the building through the same door he had entered, but by then police had secured the door and blocked his path. He made it out of the building at 3:11 but remained within the restricted area around the Capitol building for more than an hour, according to the affidavit. Photos appear to show him walking past “area closed” signs and lines of police officers at several different points.
More than 1,200 people, including eight other men with Maine connections, have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kyle Fitzsimons of Lebanon was found guilty on 11 charges and was sentenced to more than seven years in prison last June.
Glen Mitchell Simon, 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 of Gorham pleaded guilty in 2022 to participating in the attack and was sentenced to 30 days in prison.
Joshua Colgan of Jefferson pleaded guilty last January under a deal with prosecutors to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building and was sentenced in April to three years probation.
Todd Tilley of South Paris pleaded guilty in March to the same offense and was sentenced to a week in jail.
David Ball of Wells was arrested and charged in March with four misdemeanors and was recently sentenced to two years of probation.
Christopher Maurer, 45, pleaded not guilty in May to seven counts related to civil disorder, assaulting officers with a deadly weapon, and illegally entering and committing violent acts on restricted grounds.
Last week, Waldoboro resident and former Maine Senate candidate Matthew Brackley pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding police. He faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 14.
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