The former owner of a Lisbon sausage shop has been accused of participating in the Capitol riot.
Andre Maurice Bonneau, 64, of Lewiston has been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, both felonies. He also faces misdemeanor charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Bonneau is the latest Mainer to be sentenced for their conduct during the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob loyal to Donald Trump attempted to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Rioters assaulted police officers and caused millions in damage to the Capitol building. The total cost of the riot, including damage, investigations and security upgrades, is about $2.7 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Bonneau, who was wearing a black beanie, transition lenses, a blue jacket and a “distinct” red bandana, was caught on body cameras and other video sources trying to push through a police barricade on the Capitol’s West Front, according to an FBI statement of facts dated Oct. 1.
He allegedly struggled with officers to lift and remove a bike rack being used to block rioters’ access to the Capitol.
Officers eventually used riot batons and a chemical irritant to repel Bonneau, according to the FBI statement of facts.
Bonneau was interviewed in Maine by an FBI agent on June 13, 2022, when he confirmed he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But Bonneau declined to answer any questions about whether he allegedly engaged in violence there, according to the FBI.
He was arrested Thursday, and will appear in U.S. District Court in Maine.
Before the Capitol riot, Bonneau owned Maurice Bonneau’s Sausage Kitchen on Main Street in Lisbon. His father started in 1995 on Ridge Road before it moved to its current location in 2008. The business struggled during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bonneau retired, handing over ownership to Kerry and George Conroy-Morongell of Lisbon in August 2020, The Times Record reported at the time.
More than 1,500 people have been charged for crimes related to the Capitol riot, including more than 560 who allegedly assaulted or impeded police, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The investigation is ongoing.
