Michigan man pleads guilty to assaulting police officer in January 2021 US Capitol attack

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan man pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors said.

Matthew Thomas Krol, 64, of Linden entered the plea in the District of Columbia to a felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, the Department of Justice said in a news release.

Krol is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15.

Federal prosecutors say Krol threw a water bottle at police officers, pulled other civilians out of his way, and attacked an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department. He also grabbed an officer, spun him around, and stole his police baton, using it to hit other officers, prosecutors said.

Krol was arrested on Feb. 22, 2022, in Linden. He is a self-professed past leader of the Genesee County Volunteer Militia, court documents said.

Krol’s attorney, Michael Cronkright of Lansing, told the Detroit Free Press that his client is “very remorseful” and said all of his wrongdoing occurred in the space of “less than a minute” after he got caught up in the crowd.