New York GOP district leader Philip Grillo, self-proclaimed 'Republican Messiah,' arrested in Capitol riot case

A New York City man who has a leadership role in the Queens County Republican Party was arrested Tuesday and charged with participation in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Philip Grillo, 46, was identified by two tipsters as one of the members of the mob that invaded the Capitol that day by a Knights of Columbus jacket he was wearing, among other things, according to a statement of facts signed by an FBI agent.

„I saw him twice in CNN in two separate incidents,“ one witness told the FBI, noting that they knew Grillo from growing up with him in the Glen Oaks section of Queens

Grillo, whom the FBI confirmed was a member of a Queens Knights of Columbus council, is listed as being the GOP leader of the 24th Assembly District in Queens by that county’s Republican Party group.

In late 2020, he was blocked from being confirmed as a place-holder candidate in a special Feb. 2 election for a seat on the New York City Council.

Grillo’s effort to get on the ballot and swap in another man as the actual candidate in the races — a tactic that is legal — failed after a Democratic former council member who sought that seat challenged the petition signatures he submitted.

His Facebook page refers to himself as „The Republican Messiah,“ a state GOP committeeman in „President Trumps Hometown District.“

„I’m truly upset,“ Grillo’s mother told CNBC when asked for comment on his arrest.