NE Queens District Leader Arrested For Role In U.S. Capitol Riot

GLEN OAKS, QUEENS — A Republican district leader in Queens was arrested by the FBI Monday in connection with his participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to federal prosecutors.

Glen Oaks resident Philip Grillo, 46, was due to make his first virtual court appearance Tuesday before a federal magistrate judge. Details of the charges against him have not been released.

The FBI identified Grillo after two people who said they grew up with him reported seeing Grillo on CNN as part of the mob of Trump loyalists who stormed the building that day in a violent effort to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

Five deaths have been tied to the insurrection.

Grillo appears to be the first Queens resident to face charges for participating in the insurrection, although a Middle Village man was accused of plotting another U.S. Capitol attack, and a Ridgewood man was arrested on charges that he threatened to assassinate members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Chuck Schumer.

Grillo is an elected Republican district leader in Queens' 24th Assembly District, which covers a horizontal stripe of the borough that extends from Richmond Hill to Glen Oaks.

Queens County GOP Chair Joann Ariola told the Queens Daily Eagle she was “taken aback” to learn of Grillo’s arrest, adding, “He is a good Republican who worked hard for the party to elect officials from the party who were moderates and definitely not from the right-wing of the party."

Grillo attempted to run as a placeholder candidate in this year's City Council special election to replace Rory Lancman, with plans to give his spot on the ballot to attorney Leo Yakubov, but was thrown off the ballot by former City Council member James Gennaro, according to the Queens Daily Eagle. Gennaro ultimately won.

The FBI confirmed Grillo's identity using a Knights of Columbus jacket he was pictured wearing on television and surveillance footage of the insurrection, according to court records. The jacket bore the name of the Catholic fraternal organization's Glen Oaks subset.

Cell phone records also indicated that Grillo was in Washington, D.C., the day of the Capitol riots, prosecutors said.

According to surveillance footage, Grillo got into the Capitol building by climbing through a broken window, federal prosecutors said.

Later, the footage shows Grillo among the crowd of rioters who pushed past a trio of U.S. Capitol Police officers and forced open a set of doors to the Capitol's Rotunda to let more people into the building, according to prosecutors.

Grillo was also caught on video near the front of a group of rioters shouting, "fight for Trump," during a physical confrontation with Capitol police officers, prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors across the United States have charged at least 238 people in connection with their participation in the siege and opened over 400 investigations, according to CBS News.