Christopher Belliveau (Photos from court documents)
A man from Maine who breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with a hockey stick and a bullhorn was arrested this week after a quick-thinking police officer ran his license plate and noticed he had a warrant for his arrest, federal authorities said.
Christopher Belliveau, 38, faces charges of civil disorder, assaulting officers using a dangerous weapon, trespassing, disorderly conduct, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building and parading in the Capitol buildings, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
He was allegedly among a mob of former President Donald Trump supporters attending the “Stop the Steal” rally that day before making his way to the Capitol to participate in the disruption of the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win.
He’s accused of carrying a bullhorn and gesturing at a police officer before discharging an orange spray from a green canister of bear mace, court documents said.
As he ran back toward the crowd and away from the officer, he continued to spray mace, the document said. The officer chased after him but was knocked to the ground by another rioter before she could reach him, court documents said.
Belliveau allegedly made his way into the Capitol at 2:17 p.m. — shortly after the initial breach of the building — and went to the Crypt, where rioters confronted a police line, before he left about 15 minutes later, according to the government’s statement of facts, which outlines the allegations against him that day.
Later, he summed up his visit in a video, court documents said.
“I’m here to make sure the Chinese Communist Party does not take over this country through Joe Biden,” he said in his helmet, while carrying the hockey stick with the flag wrapped around it, according to court documents.
North Berwick Police Officer Ashley Sargent confirmed to Law&Crime that she spotted Belliveau’s vehicle on Tuesday at a home in North Berwick, in southern Maine, and ran the license plate. She learned he was wanted for assault on law enforcement in connection with the Jan. 6 riots. FBI agents and law enforcement from nearby agencies helped bring him into custody in a traffic stop.
In the 41 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,450 people have been charged with crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, authorities said.
According to a new report, only a small fraction of those convicted and ordered to pay restitution have done so.
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