A preliminary hearing is set this week for a Linden man charged with assaulting law enforcement during the insurrection attempt at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
63-year-old Matthew Thomas Krol is charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury, civil disorder, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and related offenses.
A hearing is set for Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. Krol has been in custody since his arrest Feb. 22nd in Linden.
According to court documents, Krol is the self-professed executive officer of the Genesee County Volunteer Militia. He also unsuccessfully ran for Genesee County sheriff as a Republican candidate in 2016.Â
Authorities contend that on Jan. 6, at approximately 2:28 p.m., he pushed forward through a crowd near the Capitol Steps on the east side of the building, threw a water bottle at police officers, pulled other civilians out of his way, and attacked an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department. He allegedly grabbed the officer, spun him around, and stole his police baton. He is then said to have held up the baton to the crowd and used it to strike other officers, including one who was holding a shield.
According to documents filed in federal court, Krol admitted to attending Michigan rallies with a rifle strapped to his shoulder, including at least one at the state Capitol in Lansing.
The filing states that when questioned by the FBI after his arrest, Krol “admitted he associates with a number of people who have been charged with the plot” to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The filing also included a June 16, 2020 Facebook exchange between Krol and one of the defendants in the Whitmer case.
“Everything said on here is hypothetical, but it’s time to move past the rally’s (sic) and pointless bulls— that doesn’t work,” the unnamed defendant in the Whitmer case said in a Facebook message.
The assault disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Federal authorities say that in the 14 months since Jan. 6, more than 750 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including over 235 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
