Suspect Arrested in Assault Against Rep. Angie Craig

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) speaks in Washington on Jan. 29, 2019. Zach Gibson/Getty Images

A homeless man suspected of attacking U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) in an elevator inside her Washington, D.C. apartment building has been arrested by police.

Kendrick Hamlin, also known as Hamlin Khalil Hamlin, was arrested by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s First District on Feb. 9, on the same day the attack occurred, according to a statement.

Hamlin, who has no fixed address, was charged with simple assault, police said.

Craig was assaulted at around 7:15 a.m. on Thursday morning inside an elevator at her apartment building, according to police, who said Hamlin approached the lawmaker, assaulted her, and then fled when Craig defended herself.

Earlier on Thursday, Craig’s office released a statement saying that the Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota had called the police before the suspect fled the scene.

Craig, 50, suffered bruising, but was “otherwise physically OK,” her office said, adding that there was no evidence to suggest the attack was politically motivated.

Suspect Was ‘Acting Erratic’

The congresswoman, who is currently serving in her third term as a House member, is “grateful to the Metropolitan DC Police Department for their quick response,” her office said.

According to a public incident report, Hamlin was “acting erratic as if he was under the influence [of] an unknown substance” before entering the elevator.

The lawmaker had greeted him, saying “good morning” before entering the elevator, the report said.

Hamlin then proceeded to follow the lawmaker into the elevator and “began to randomly do push ups” before he “punched her on the chin area of her face, and later grabbed her neck,” the report said.

Craig defended herself by throwing hot coffee at the suspect, who escaped, the report stated.

Just hours after the attack, the Republican-led House voted 250–173 to pass a disapproval resolution against a rewrite of D.C.’s criminal code that was passed by the City Council in November last year.

The criminal bill, which would go into effect in 2025, would overhaul D.C.’s criminal statute for the first time since 1901, including reducing the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking, and robbery.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and 19 original co-sponsors introduced the resolution of disapproval earlier this month, calling the rewrite “dangerous.”

Reporter Attacked

“The D.C. Council’s radical rewrite of the criminal code threatens the well-being of both Washingtonians and visitors — making our nation’s capital city a safe haven for violent criminals,” said Clyde in a statement earlier this month. “In response to this dangerous and severely misguided measure, it’s now up to Congress to save our nation’s capital from itself. Our Constitution grants Congress the responsibility and authority to manage Washington’s affairs, which is why we must swiftly pass a resolution of disapproval to stop this insanity in its tracks”

In January, Washington’s Democrat Mayor, Muriel Bowser, vetoed the legislation.

Craig joined 31 Democrats in voting for the measure, according to The New York Post.

The attack on Craig, whose congressional district encompasses parts of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, comes shortly after a reporter with The Epoch Times’ sister media outlet was robbed at gunpoint on Jan. 28 outside of her apartment complex in Washington, D.C.

Iris Tao, a White House reporter for NTD, told The Epoch Times that she was confronted outside of her apartment building by a slim black man about 6 feet tall, wearing black from head to toe, and pointing a handgun at her.

The man took her mobile phone before hitting her in the face with the gun and fleeing the scene. Tao suffered slight injuries.

From Jan. 1 through Jan. 27, the Metropolitan Police Department recorded 2,190 crimes, including 156 robberies, marking a 16 percent increase from the same period in 2022.