‘MOB VIOLENCE’

Self-Proclaimed Michigan Militia Man Gets Over 4 Years for Jan. 6

The man was caught on video swinging a stolen police baton at three officers.

A Michigan man accused of assaulting officers with a stolen police baton during the Jan. 6 attack was sentenced on Friday to over four years in prison. According to court documents upon his arrest, Matthew Thomas Krol, 65, a self-proclaimed leader of the Genesee County Volunteer Militia, was caught on video swinging the weapon at three officers, including Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was left with a bloody and swollen right hand. The Associated Press reported that Krol spoke directly to Gonell, who was in attendance at the sentencing hearing, saying, “I don’t expect you to accept my apology, but I hope one day you do.” Gonell left the Capitol Police Department a year ago and asked U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras to hold the defendant “accountable” for being “part of the mob that ensured I’d lose my career.” During its investigation, the FBI found that Krol talked to Adam Fox, a member of the Wolverine Watchmen who was sentenced to 16 years in prison last year for planning a “second American Revolution” in the 2020 scheme to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.