Minnesota U.S. Rep. Angie Craig says she had to fight attacker to get out of elevator

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Angie Craig said she fought off the man who attacked her last week as she was trying to get out of an elevator.

"He wasn't going to let me out of that elevator if I hadn't fought my way out," the Minnesota Democrat said in an interview with KARE 11 that aired Monday night.

Her alleged assailant, who has a long criminal history in the D.C. area, made a federal court appearance earlier Monday on a charge of assaulting Craig in her Washington, D.C., apartment building.

"I don't know if I had time to be scared," Craig said in the interview. "When he demanded to go to my apartment all I knew at that moment was [that] there's no way in hell that's going to happen."

The D.C. police department said Kendrick Hamlin, 26, with no fixed address, was arrested and charged with assault, although court filings refer to him as Kendrid Khalil Hamlin.

The Democratic congresswoman's chief of staff said in a statement last week there was "no evidence that the incident was politically motivated."

Federal prosecutors want Hamlin held without bail before trial. In a memo, they said Hamlin has a "significant history of failing to appear at court hearings for past convictions," and there appears to be "no conditions or combination of conditions that can reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant" in court.

In a brief court session before U.S. Magistrate G. Michael Harvey on Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Schneider said Hamlin had 24 bench warrants for failing to appear in court. He is scheduled back in court at noon Wednesday for a hearing on whether he will be detained before trial.

Hamlin did not enter a plea. He spoke only briefly to state his name and age and to confirm that he was able to understand the proceedings. He has been appointed a federal public defender, Katie D'Adamo Guevara. At her request, a portion of the hearing was closed to the media to discuss sensitive personal matters. No further explanation was provided.

According to the U.S. Capitol Police report: Craig had gotten coffee in her apartment building's lobby last Thursday morning when she noticed a man — later identified as Hamlin by police — pacing. After she said "good morning" to him, Hamlin followed Craig into an elevator, told her he needed to use the bathroom and was going to her apartment.

After Craig told Hamlin he couldn't enter her apartment, he blocked the elevator door and hit keypad buttons. When she attempted to get out, Hamlin punched Craig, and got behind her, put his hand on her shoulders and grabbed her collarbone, the report said.

Craig threw her hot coffee at him and eventually was able to get out of the elevator. She called for help and Hamlin fled, the report said, leaving Craig bleeding from her lip and in pain from being punched.

Police used Craig's description of her assailant and reviewed video surveillance of him in the apartment building's lobby before locating Hamlin later in the day sitting on a street within a mile of Craig's apartment. .

Federal prosecutors wrote in a filing that Hamlin is charged "with felony assault on a member of Congress where personal injury resulted," and alleged that when officers tried to arrest him, he bit a detective and kicked an officer.

"I think what happened to me happens to people, especially women, every single day in our country," Craig said in the KARE interview. "It just happened to happen to me last Thursday morning, and I also just happen to be a member of Congress."

White House officials said President Joe Biden called Craig Monday evening to check on her and wish her a happy early birthday.

Prior record

Hamlin, who has multiple aliases, has a long criminal record in the D.C. area dating to 2014. Before the alleged assault on Craig, his most recent crime occurred in November when he assaulted police. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 15 and was sentenced to just over a month in jail and fined $50 in that incident.

The prior incident began when an officer recognized Hamlin, who was lying on a sidewalk outside a shelter, according to the police report. The officer knew Hamlin had an active arrest warrant for failing to appear in court for a previous misdemeanor.

When the officer attempted to arrest him, Hamlin complained about pain from stitches for a stab wound in his arm so police took him to the Washington Hospital Center.

But after he was treated at the hospital, Hamlin "became combative" and refused to get up and leave, the arrest report said. Hamlin kicked, bit and spit blood and saliva on multiple officers, according to the arrest report.

Hamlin also has a record in Maryland and Virginia.

He pleaded guilty in November 2021 to felony robbery in a January 2021 incident in Maryland. Hamlin also pleaded guilty in May 2021 to misdemeanor assault for another Maryland incident in March of that year.

His earliest charge occurred in Virginia in 2014, where he was accused of grand larceny, a felony. He ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor in 2015.

Staff researcher John Wareham contributed to this report.