WASHINGTON (AP) — A man pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota in the elevator of her Washington apartment building in February, court records show.
Kendrid Khalil Hamlin pleaded guilty to charges of assault on a member of Congress and assault on law enforcement officers, according to court records. Hamlin was also accused of assaulting two officers as they tried to arrest him on the same day as Craig’s attack.
Hamlin’s attorneys said in an emailed statement that he “accepted responsibility for his actions today in the sincere hope of moving toward the rehabilitation and mental health treatment he so desperately wants and needs.”
“Unfortunately, we know that treatment and rehabilitation will not happen in prison. We hope that all parties can work together to finally offer Mr. Hamlin the opportunity to get mental health support and treatment, as well as stable housing when he is released,” said his federal public defenders, Katie D’Adamo Guevara and Eugene Jeen. -Young Kim Ohm.
A spokesman for Craig said his office had no immediate comment.
Craig was drinking coffee in the lobby of his building when he noticed a man walking up, a U.S. Capitol Police special agent wrote in court documents. The man got into the elevator with her and said he had to go to the bathroom and was going into her apartment, the officer wrote.
After she said she couldn’t, he punched her in the side of the face and grabbed her by the neck before she escaped by throwing the cup of hot coffee over his shoulder, according to the documents judicial
Craig’s chief of staff said after the assault that there was no evidence it was politically motivated.
Prosecutors said in court documents that Hamlin had numerous prior convictions, including for assaulting a police officer.
Craig won a third term in November in the suburban-rural 2nd District south of Minneapolis and St. Paul in one of the nation’s most expensive House races, dashing the GOP’s best hope of picking up a Minnesota seat in an election that gave Republicans a narrow House majority.
