Former Trump State Department appointee due to stand trial for role in Capitol riot

The former Trump appointee is accused of attacking Capitol police with a shield

The trial of a former Trump appointee working in the State Department who is accused of assault against police during the Capitol riot has been set for September.

Federico Klein is one of the hundreds of rioters arrested for allegedly participating in the 6 January attack on the Capitol. At the time of the attack, Mr Klein was a member of the US State Department, appointed to his position by then-President Donald Trump.

Mr Klein resigned his position two weeks after the attack and was arrested in March after several witnesses, including a former co-worker, saw his picture on an FBI wanted poster and alerted the authorities.

The former Trump appointee was originally charged with allegedly obstructing police officers by using a police shield to prevent them from securing the Capitol's entrance. New charges were added in August when video evidence suggested he allegedly used the shield to assault Capitol police with the shield.

That indictment alleged that Mr Klein was "Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers and Aiding and Abetting."

Investigators believe that Mr Klein was among the first Trump supporters to breach the Capitol, and accused him of inciting further chaos inside the building, calling for "fresh people" to fill the halls.

Mr Klein was offered a plea deal by prosecutors over the summer, but he rejected that offer, calling it "unreasonable."

In video evidence of Mr Klein's participation in the attack, he is allegedly shown pushing his way to a Capitol police shield wall and attempting to grab a shield from one of the officers. He then goes to grab a nearby metal pole to continue the attack.

“What seems to have occurred is, Mr. Klein did something that is wholly inconsistent with the conditions that he is under,” DC District Court Judge John D Bates said. “He committed a violation, and it’s a serious violation, because he put himself in the position of not being able to comply with the conditions he himself requested.”

The judge said in light of the video evidence available against Mr Klein, he has an "uphill battle" ahead of him.

His case, as well as those of several co-defendants, has been set for 26 September, 2022.

More than 700 people have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot.

Earlier this month, a Robert Palmer, 54, of Largo, Florida, received the harshest sentence yet of any January 6 defendants. He was charged to 63 months in prison after pleading guilty to spraying a fire extinguisher at police and then throwing the empty canister at police.

As investigators continue to arrest riot participants and prosecutors continue to push for convictions, the January 6 Congressional committee has continued to demand bank records and testimony from individuals involved in the planning and funding of the attack.