Maine Man Matt Brackley Sentenced for Assaulting Cops on Jan. 6

Maine Man Sentenced for Assaulting Cops on Jan. 6: 40-Year-Old Waldoboro Resident Matthew Brackley Gets 15 Months Behind Bars

A Maine man has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Matthew Brackley, 40, of Waldoboro, Maine, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $3,000 in fines and restitution by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols.

According to court documents, Brackley attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall and then made his way to the U.S. Capitol building, where he observed rows of bike rack barricades and uniformed police officers preventing people from advancing towards the Capitol. Brackley then approached a set of stairs underneath a scaffolding erected to construct the Inaugural stage, where other rioters had climbed onto the scaffolding and shredded the white tarp covering it.

Brackley and other rioters then flooded up the stairs and advanced towards the Capitol building, entering the U.S. Capitol via the Senate Wing Door at 2:23 p.m. He made his way to the Crypt, where a large group of rioters had filled the room and pushed against a line of U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Officers. The rioters in the Crypt eventually overwhelmed the line of USCP officers, gaining further access to the Capitol.

Brackley traveled through the Rotunda and eventually made his way to the Senate Chamber, which had been evacuated several minutes earlier. There, he was stopped by USCP officers, but he did not retreat and instead pushed through the officers, leading the crowd behind him further into the hallway towards the Senate Chamber. Brackley’s progress was stopped when a larger group of officers dressed in riot gear entered the hallway from the opposite end and halted the crowd.

The FBI arrested Brackley on July 21, 2023, in Maine. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted this case, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine providing valuable assistance. Brackley’s actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.