WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 A man who worked as a politically appointed State Department official in former President Donald Trump's administration was convicted Thursday of charges that he attacked police officers during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden heard testimony without a jury before he convicted the former official, , and a co-defendant, Steven Cappuccio, of assault charges and other felony offenses stemming from the .
Klein and Cappuccio were among nine co-defendants charged with crimes related to one of the most violent and pivotal episodes of the Jan. 6 siege: brutal waves of hand-to-hand combat between rioters and police officers in a tunnel leading to a Capitol entrance on the Lower West Terrace.
Klein and Cappuccio converged on the tunnel as outnumbered police officers struggled for hours to hold back the mob of rioters, .
McFadden convicted Klein of 12 counts, including six charging him with assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers. Klein is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 3.
The judge is scheduled to sentence Cappuccio on Oct. 19. McFadden convicted him of assault charges but acquitted him of two counts, including a felony charge that he obstructed the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying Biden's 2020 electoral victory. But, McFadden convicted Klein of the same obstruction charge.
The judge said the tunnel was the scene of 鈥渟hocking violence and hostility鈥 against police.
鈥淣o police officer should have had to endure those attacks without provocation,鈥 McFadden said.
McFadden allowed Klein to remain free under house arrest until his sentencing but ordered Cappuccio to be jailed immediately after the verdict. Klein shook Cappuccio's hand in the courtroom before a deputy marshal handcuffed him.
Klein, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, had a Top Secret security clearance and had been working since 2017 in the State Department鈥檚 office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs. He resigned from that position on Jan. 19, 2021, a day before President Joe Biden鈥檚 inauguration.
Klein, wearing a red 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥 hat, was in the first wave of rioters to enter the tunnel, according to prosecutors. They said Klein pushed hard against officers, telling them, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 stop this!鈥 and repeatedly drove his shoulder into an officer who tried to push him back with his baton.
Klein also wedged a stolen police riot shield between two doors, preventing officers from closing them, prosecutors said.
"With the shield as a wedge, Klein and other rioters pried the doors open again and continued their attacks on the police in the tunnel, which lasted for more than two more hours," prosecutors wrote.
Video captured Klein exhorting other rioters to attack police, repeatedly yelling, 鈥淲e need fresh people!鈥
Cappuccio yelled, 鈥淪torming the castle, boys!鈥 and chanted, 鈥淔ight for Trump!鈥 and 鈥淥ur house!鈥 as he reached the Lower West Terrace. In the tunnel, he joined other rioters in pushing against the police line, prosecutors said.
鈥淎ll the while, Cappuccio continued to hold his phone in the air, recording the violence between the rioters and the police line,鈥 they wrote.
When another rioter pinned Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges against a door, Cappuccio ripped a gas mask off the officer's face and dislodged his helmet, prosecutors said.
鈥淐appuccio then took Officer Hodges鈥 riot baton out of his hands and used the baton to strike Officer Hodges in the face,鈥 they wrote. "Throughout this vicious assault, Officer Hodges screamed and pleaded for help."
Cappuccio, also a military veteran, drove from Texas to Washington, D.C. to attend Trump's 鈥淪top the Steal鈥 rally on Jan. 6. He was arrested at his home in Universal City, Texas, in August 2021.
Klein, a native of Washington region who also worked for Trump鈥檚 2016 campaign, was .
Klein's lawyer had sought a separate trial for him, arguing that his co-defendants were accused of engaging in 鈥渇ar more threatening and intentional conduct鈥 than Klein.
"Mr. Klein is not alleged to have injured anyone, and the government concedes his 'assault' of a law enforcement officer amounts to his having been in possession of a riot shield that also came into contact with a law enforcement officer,鈥
Another co-defendant, , was scheduled to be tried with Klein and Cappuccio. Earlier this month, however, McFadden convicted Quaglin, 37, of North Brunswick, New Jersey, of 14 riot-related crimes. Quaglin had a 鈥渟tipulated bench trial," which means the judge decided the case without a jury based on facts agreed upon by both sides. McFadden is scheduled to sentence Quaglin on Sept. 26.
More than 100 police officers were injured during the riot. . Approximately 100 of them have been convicted by juries or judges. Only two have been acquitted of all charges after trials. Over 600 others have pleaded guilty.
