Christopher Maurer

By 3 pm, Christopher was at the Capitol Building and had made his way to the entrance at the Lower West Terrace (“the tunnel”). A minute or two later, he had pushed against the police officers guarding the entrance and swung a pole at them. It should be said that the Capitol Police started lobbing tear gas and pepper spray unprovoked into the crowd.  Christopher entered the tunnel and made his way to another police line. Maurer moved a hand toward an officer, but it isn’t clear what his intention was. He again helped push against police officers and then left the tunnel within eight minutes.

Approximately an hour and a half later, Christopher entered the tunnel again. He was screaming at and gesturing to police officers defending the entrance to the Capitol. The officers sprayed him with pepper spray. Christopher blindly reached around and picked up what turned out to be a metal pipe or pole. With his eyes burning, he swung the object and left the area.

Christopher was arrested on February 23, 2023, in Westbrook, Maine. He appeared to be down on his luck and living out of his vehicle at a “Park and Ride” lot off Interstate 295. He was charged with two felonies (civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon) and five misdemeanors (lesser charges used to ‘stack’ the indictment and add more jail/prison time). He made his first court appearance, but no plea was entered. He was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshalls. At some point after that court appearance in Maine (most likely immediately after per the standard operating procedure of the Justice Department) he was sent to the DC Gulag.

Christopher is being defended by public defenders Barry Coburn and Marc Eisenstein. He chose a trial by jury and the trial was scheduled to begin on January 22, 2024. It was postponed. Chief Judge James E Boasberg has now set jury selection to begin on September 23, 2024. Christopher remains in custody awaiting trial.