Trump appointee arrested over Capitol riot took a police riot shield and fought with officers

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Trump appointee arrested over Capitol riot took a police riot shield and fought with officers, affidavit says

By Mia Jankowicz




A Trump appointee who has been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot fought police and used a riot shield to wedge the door to the building open, an affidavit said.

Federico Klein, then an employee of the State Department, is believed to be the first Trump appointee facing charges in relation to the events of January 6.

The document was published late Thursday by The New York Times, which also reported Klein's arrest.

An FBI agent identified Klein, in a MAGA hat, among the mob that crammed into a tunnel leading to the Lower West Terrace entrance to the Capitol building from surveillance and police body camera footage from the day.



In the tunnel, Klein pushed to the front of the crowd and "physically and verbally engaged" with police, preventing them from doing their work, the affidavit says.



Around half an hour later, he was caught on camera among a crowd trying to push through doors to the building, according to the document.

An officer shouted "back up" six times, a command that Klein ignored, the affidavit says.



Instead, it says, Klein violently shoved a riot shield at officers, wedging it between the doors and preventing police from shutting them out. He also rammed it into officers in an attempt to breach their line, it said.

Describing the video footage, the affidavit says Klein was seen "resisting officers, attempting to take items from officers, and assaulting officers with a riot shield."

The document describes it as "either an MPD or an U.S. Capitol Police riot shield." It said the shield "apparently had been taken from an officer," but did not offer details.

He was eventually moved away with the use of chemical irritant spray, it says.

Other footage appears to show Klein brawling with police and encouraging the crowd. "We need more people, we need more people," he yelled on more than one occasion, according to the footage described.

Eventually, the mob was pushed out of the tunnel.