Federal prosecutors are arguing against a 65-year-old Michigan man's request to receive a reduced sentence after admitting he grabbed a police officer's baton and hit others with it during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by supporters of former President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, saying he is not remorseful and continues to consider himself a political prisoner.
In recent court filings, a lawyer for Matthew Krol, of Linden, who pleaded guilty to a charge associated with his conduct at the riot in August and is set to be sentenced on Friday, argued that given Krol's past humanitarian work helping victims of natural disasters in Haiti, Thailand and elsewhere and his acceptance of responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6, the judge should significantly reduce the 6 1/2-year sentence being sought by prosecutors.
His lawyer called him "an excellent candidate for home confinement."
"Given the opportunity, Mr. Krol will express his personal apologies to the people most affected by his behaviors, including all of the officers involved," lawyer Michael Cronkright of Lansing wrote on his behalf to D.C. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras late last week, including testimonials from family and friends on his behalf.
But prosecutors zeroed in on the fact that Krol still disputes whether his actions resulted in hand injuries to one officer — U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell — who suffered what they claim was permanent damage and warrants a tougher sentence. They also pointed to recent posts on YouTube and elsewhere on social media that suggest he is not really remorseful about his actions.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Tessman wrote the judge this week saying that a month ago Krol was interviewed for a YouTube video titled, "Political Prisoner in the DC Gulag Matthew Krol." In it, Tessman said Krol referred to Gonell as "infamous" and said the officer had been "found to be a liar." Prosecutors called the claim spurious, noting that video shows Gonell's outstretched hand when Krol hit him.
Tessman also noted that artwork by Krol has been posted on social media in recent months — including a drawing of Trump and another piece in which Krol refers to himself as a "J6 political prisoner."
"Krol is not a political prisoner, some latter-day Aleksander Solzhenitsyn," wrote Tessman in a filing also signed by Matthew Graves, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. "To claim, as Krol does, that this conduct amounts to prosecution based on his political beliefs demonstrates that he is completely unremorseful and unwilling to accept the reality of what happened on January 6."
Cronkright said in a response filed Tuesday to the government's filing that it is possible to have a "factual dispute" over what caused Gonell's injuries while still taking responsibility for one's actions and showing remorse.
"This is the case here," Cronkright continued. "Mr. Krol acknowledges that he wrongfully struck Officer Gonell with a baton which he wrongfully took from another officer. He acknowledges that he struck other officers as well. He acknowledges that Officer Gonell was injured and that those injuries appear to him to be serious... The government knew that he was disputing the assertion that he caused the injury at the time that they negotiated the plea."
Cronkright asked the judge for an evidentiary hearing over the claim regarding who caused Gonell's injury; prosecutors said any desire to cross-examine Gonell at such a hearing "appears to be nothing more than a personal vendetta designed to embarrass" the officer and that the court has all the evidence it needs to sentence Krol.
Krol, who has been held in custody since his arrest in February 2022, was identified by video and witnesses as attacking police officers attempting to block a mob of Trump supporters from entering the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify the 2020 election for President Joe Biden. Initially, Krol — who was known to be involved with militia groups in Michigan and who prosecutors labelled an "associate" of some of the men convicted in connection with a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — faced several charges.
In August, he pleaded guilty to one of those charges: assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers while using a dangerous weapon. He acknowledged that he came to Washington to attend Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally that day and was among those who rushed Capitol Police at the U.S. Capitol, wrestling a baton from one and using it to strike at least two others.
Prosecutors, in addition to asking Contreras to sentence Krol to 6 1/2 years in prison, also said he should receive three years of supervised release and pay $2,000 in restitution. Cronkright has also noted Krol's history of heart problems — he has a pacemaker — and a troubled childhood as reasons why he should receive a lesser sentence.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler
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