WASHINGTON (AP) — A man pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota in the elevator of her apartment building in Washington in February, court records show.
Kendrid Khalil Hamlin pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting a congressman and assaulting law enforcement officers, according to the court filing. Hamlin was also accused of assaulting two officers as they tried to arrest him on the same day Craig was attacked.
Hamlin’s attorneys said in an emailed statement that he “accepts responsibility for his actions today with the sincere hope of moving forward into the rehabilitation and mental health treatment he desires and needs. so much needed”.
“Unfortunately, we know that treatment and rehabilitation will not take place in prison. We hope all parties can work together to finally provide Mr. Hamlin with the opportunity to obtain mental health support and treatment, as well as stable housing upon his release,” said his federal public defenders, Katie D. ‘Adamo Guevara and Eugene Jeen. -Young Kim Ohm.
A spokesperson for Craig said his office had no immediate comment.
Craig was having coffee in the lobby of her apartment building when she noticed a man pacing, a United States Capitol Police special constable wrote in court documents. The man entered the elevator with her and said he needed to go to the bathroom and entered her apartment, the agent wrote.
After she said he couldn’t, he punched her in the side of the face and grabbed her near the neck before she escaped throwing her cup of hot coffee over him his shoulder, according to court documents.
Craig’s chief of staff said after the assault there was no evidence he 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-to-rural 2nd district south of Minneapolis and St. Paul in one of the country’s most expensive home races, frustrating the GOP’s best hope of overturning a seat in the Minnesota in an election that gave Republicans a slim majority in the House.