Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A Linden man has been sentenced for assaulting law enforcement during the January 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

64-year-old Matthew Krol was sentenced to 51 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras. He was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Krol earlier pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, a felony.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Krol’s actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.

According to court documents on January 6th, 2021 Krol joined the storming of the police line on the West Plaza of the Capitol grounds, stole a police baton from an officer by pulling the officer in circles before wrestling it away, and celebrated his conduct by holding the baton in the air. Krol then used that same police baton to strike at least three police officers, badly injuring the right hand of a U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant.

The Office said Krol was a self-professed executive officer of the Genesee County Volunteer Militia and associate of the Wolverine Watchmen - an extremist group comprised of individuals convicted in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

In the 35 months since the attack, the Office says more than 1,230 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol - including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

More information is available in the attached release.