State Department aide appointed by Trump stormed the Capitol, beat police with a riot shield, FBI says
By Katie Shepherd
March 5, 2021 at 5:55 a.m. EST
Police officers, veterans and even a former FBI employee have been arrested for allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Now, federal investigators have added a Trump administration official to the growing list of defendants facing charges in the deadly riot.
On Thursday, the FBI arrested a political appointee of former president Donald Trump, according to a criminal complaint, marking the first member of the administration arrested in connection with the insurrection. Politico first reported the arrest.
Federal agents arrested Federico G. Klein, 42, a former State Department aide, on multiple felony charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to a criminal complaint published by the New York Times. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday.
Klein, who is also a former Trump campaign employee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday. It is unclear if he has hired a lawyer.
Klein was still employed at the State Department as a staff assistant on Jan. 6 when he joined a mob in the a tunnel leading into the U.S. Capitol, the FBI said. Then he allegedly “physically and verbally engaged with the officers holding the line” at the building’s entrance, according to the complaint. After ignoring officers’ orders to move back, he assaulted officers with a riot shield that had been stolen from police, the complaint said, and then used the shield to wedge open a door into the Capitol.
At one point, Klein was caught on video shouting for more insurrectionists to come to the front lines, where officers were struggling to hold back the mob.
“We need fresh people, need fresh people,” he said, according to the complaint.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/05/trump-federico-klein-capitol-riot/
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