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A Michigan man, who has described himself as a militia leader, was sentenced to more than four years in prison Friday for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol.
Matthew Thomas Krol, 65, assaulted at least three officers, injuring one of them, with a baton that he stole from the officers, prosecutors said. Court documents show that he pushed his way through a crowd of rioters on the Lower West Plaza of the Capitol grounds, threw a water bottle at law enforcement and then attacked the officers.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Krol to four years and 3 months in prison — though he will get credit for the time he's served since his arrest in February 2022, the Associated Press reported.
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“The course of my life was changed that day, and he was part of the mob that ensured I’d lose my career,” former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said in the courtroom.
Ahead of the sentencing, Krol apologized to Gonell — who retired from the department a year ago — for striking his hand and leaving it bloody and swollen during the insurrection, according to the AP.
“I don’t expect you to accept my apology, but I hope one day you do,” he said.
Krol has also been linked to three members of the Wolverine Watchmen paramilitary group — who were convicted last year of supporting a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to prosecutors. He, however, was not implicated in the scheme.
His defense attorney asserted that while Krol made hyperbolic and inflammatory statements related to the group, he now "regrets" them — and claimed he knew nothing about the plot.
“The government uses the phrase that Mr. Krol was ‘an associate of members’ to allude to a greater connection than exists,” attorney Michael Cronkright said.
Prosecutors argue Krol “expressed his willingness to engage in mob violence to achieve his political objectives” even before the Jan. 6 riot.
“In Facebook messages, Krol evoked the use of violence against politicians and open hostility toward (Whitmer), in addition to sharing pictures of himself carrying weaponry,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Tessman wrote in a court filing.
Nine months after the riot, Krol was interviewed as he returned from a trip to Mexico. The defendant accused Customs and Border Protection of stopping him only because he was a supporter of former President Trump, and referred to the insurrection as a peaceful protest at the time.
“During the same interview, Krol proclaimed that he was more patriotic than any of the officers who were questioning him,” Tessman wrote.
He pleaded guilty to the assault charge in August. Prosecutors were seeking a six-year, six-month sentence.
More than 1,230 individuals have been charged in all 50 states concerning the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol. That number includes more than 440 individuals who were charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the Justice Department.
The Associated Press contributed reporting