Man accused of attacking Rep. Angie Craig in apartment pleads guilty

The man accused of attacking Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) in her apartment building pleaded guilty Thursday to assault.

Kendrid Khalil Hamlin, 27, pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress, as well as law enforcement officials, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia.

Hamlin allegedly followed the Minnesota congresswoman into an elevator in her apartment building Feb. 9 and told her that he was coming into her apartment to use the bathroom, according to court documents.

After Craig told him that he could not, Hamlin reportedly punched her in the face and grabbed her to prevent her from reaching the elevator keypad. The congresswoman then threw a cup of hot coffee on Hamlin, at which point he released her, and she ran out of the elevator.

Hamlin also pleaded guilty to assaulting a detective and a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department on the same day.

His attorneys told The Associated Press on Thursday that Hamlin has “accepted responsibility for his actions today with the earnest hope of moving towards rehabilitation and the mental health treatment he very much wants and needs.”

Craig previously criticized Washington, D.C., over its handling of her alleged assailant, who had been convicted of various crimes 12 times before her assault.

“I got attacked by someone who the District of Columbia has not prosecuted fully over the course of almost a decade, over the course of 12 assaults before mine that morning,” she said at the time. “And so I think we have to think about how in the world can we make sure that we’re not just letting criminals out.”