A Queens Republican who was convicted for entering the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riots – and then pardoned by President Donald Trump — is running for state Assembly.
Phillip S. Grillo, a former district leader, filed paperwork to challenge Democratic incumbent Ed Braunstein to represent the 26th Assembly district in northeast Queens.
Grillo, 51, who has called himself “The Republican Messiah” on social media, was spotted illegally entering the Capitol building carrying a megaphone through a broken window near the Senate Wing door on Jan. 6, 2022, the feds said.
“I’m here to stop the steal. It’s our F–king House!” he was recorded saying at the time.
He convicted by a federal jury in DC in 2023 for felony obstruction and multiple misdemeanors, but he was one of more than 1,500 who participated in the riots who Trump pardoned.
Grillo ran unsuccessfully for office in 2024 to replace ex-Long Island Rep. George Santos after the disgraced Republican was expelled from office.
He won’t be the only Republican in the race.
He’ll have to first compete for the Republican ballot in June’s primary against Robert Speranza, a retired NYPD officer endorsed by the Queens County Republican Party who previously lost three earlier elections for the same seat.
Grillo could not be reached for comment, and Braunstein did not return a message.
Queens GOP Chairman Tony Nunziato told the Queens Eagle, which first reported Grillo’s Assembly bid, that he welcomes his candidacy.
“Everybody has the right to run,” Nunziato said. “God bless. That’s all I can tell you.”
