Federico Guillermo Klein, a former State Department appointee during the Trump administration, was arrested Thursday on charges he assaulted police officers during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Mr. Klein worked for the government and held a top-secret security clearance when the riot happened, but he resigned when former President Trump left office soon after, the FBI said in a court filing.
The FBI said in the court filing, first reported by Politico, that Mr. Klein is accused of using a riot shield to assault police officers who were defending the Capitol building from violent mobs.
Mr. Klein, 42, was arrested in Virginia, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Washington Field Office confirmed to The Washington Times.
A special agent for the FBI said in the filing that Mr. Klein was recognized soon after his photo was shared by the agency as being among the people it has appealed to the public for help identifying.
Two individuals pointed the FBI to a Facebook profile for “Freddie Klein,” which included photos that “bore a strong resemble” to the person investigators were trying to identify, the agent wrote.
FBI agents then learned Mr. Klein had been appointed by the Trump administration to serve in the State Department’s office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs and interviewed one of his former colleagues.
That co-worker identified Mr. Klein in photographs from the Capitol on Jan. 6, the agent wrote, adding that cell records also show Mr. Klein’s phone was at the Capitol at the time of the riot.
Federal records show Mr. Klein worked for Mr. Trump’s election campaign prior to being appointed to serve in the State Department in 2017. His account on Facebook says he lives in Fairfax near Washington.
The court filing, a statement of facts from the FBI alleging Mr. Klein committed several federal crimes, was the only document in his case publicly available as of early Friday afternoon.
Mr. Klein faces charges including engaging in violence on Capitol grounds and assault on a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, among others. It was not clear if he had a lawyer.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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