Klein, 42, is the only known nominee of former President Donald Trump to face charges related to the violation of the Capitol. He was seen by Capitol security and cameras used by police repeatedly attacking police in a tunnel under the Capitol’s west front entrance. Prosecutors say Klein spent 30 minutes inside the tunnel on the front lines of a “fanatically” crowd engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat with the police. While in the crowd, he repeatedly asked “new people” to rotate and put pressure on the Capitol, the government says.
Faruqui pointed to this exhortation, saying that it showed Klein taking a “leadership position”, proving that he remains a danger to the community – particularly while the Capitol remains in a heavily militarized stance amid constant security threats.
“There is a real danger of violence,” he said, “and if someone is an organizer or leader or someone in a position of authority and is not detained, they can go back and try to practice such violence.”
Faruqui also ridiculed the defense’s claim that it was unclear how Klein obtained the riot shield that he allegedly tucked in a door while the police tried to close it to lock up the protesters.
“I think it’s pretty obvious, unless you are a police officer, you shouldn’t be handling the tools of a policeman’s office,” said the judge.
Klein, who worked on the Trump campaign in 2016 before being placed in the State Department’s Western Hemisphere Affairs Office, was arrested last week after a former colleague helped authorities identify him. Klein, who holds a Top Secret security certificate, continued to work at the State Department until he resigned on January 19.
Prosecutors argued that Klein’s position in the department underscored the need to arrest him pending trial. He swore an oath to the Constitution, they argued, and then violated it to commit a violent attack on the Capitol.
“The government trusted him,” said United States Assistant Prosecutor Jocelyn Bond. “He really wasted it.”
Klein’s lawyer, Stanley Woodward, argued that the government had not proved that his client was the only one seen in the videos that committed the attack on police officers. He also said that prosecutors did not show that Klein was trying to overturn the election results, despite stating this as his motive. And he noted that Klein served in the Marine Corps in Iraq.
Klein made clear his discontent with his confinement. During his first appearance in court last week, he complained about cockroaches in the cell block where he had slept during the night. On Tuesday, he clearly noticed that he was appearing at the hearing of a “cinder block room”.