U.S. Rep. Angie Craig details trauma, fallout from physical attack at her D.C. home

The congresswoman's victim impact statement says her sense of safety and security has been "significantly impacted."

November 14, 2023 at 10:08PM
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig was assaulted by a stranger in the elevator of her Washington, D.C., apartment building in February. (Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig said Tuesday in a written victim impact statement that she was physically hurt but also traumatized, shaken and forced to move after a February attack in the elevator of her Washington, D.C., apartment building.

"While my physical recovery was days, my mental and emotional recovery has taken much longer and is ongoing," she wrote. "My sense of safety and security has been significantly impacted."

Craig detailed how the assault by a stranger impacted her life in a single-page statement filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where her attacker will be sentenced Thursday by Chief Judge James Boasberg. Kendrid Khalil Hamlin pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of assaulting a member of Congress and two counts of assaulting law enforcement.

Federal prosecutors have asked for a sentence of more than three years in prison and three years on supervised release.

In requesting the sentence, prosecutors cited Hamlin's history of violent conduct, including at least nine prior arrests for violence or threats that were dismissed as part of plea agreements. "The defendant's actions have also shown that he is unwilling to abide by conditions of release, justifying the need for a significant sentence to incarceration to promote respect for the law," prosecutors wrote.

The government also submitted Craig's signed statement in which she said the case had received attention because she's a member of Congress but on that morning she was "simply a woman followed into an elevator by a man and assaulted there." There's no evidence the attack was politically motivated.

Hamlin trapped her, grabbed her neck, slammed her into the steel wall and punched her in the face, Craig wrote. She suffered bruises, a cut to her lip and "several days of soreness and discomfort," Craig wrote.

Since the attack she has sought professional help for anxiety. She also has taken self-defense training, she wrote.

Her family also has been impacted, she wrote, with her wife and four sons concerned about her safety — "both generally — and specifically due to the attention to public safety my assault" received in the media.

Craig said one media outlet disclosed the address of her apartment, forcing her to break her lease and move because of security concerns. "Following comments by media personalities about my assault, I received a flurry of additional targeted physical violence and death threats to myself and my staff," she wrote.

The third-term Democrat's office previously released information about political "hit jobs" on her by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and Fox News in the aftermath of the attack.

The NRCC issued a "Defund Angie" news release in February and linked to a Fox News story headlined "Democratic lawmaker with ties to 'defund the police' movement calls for crackdown on crime following assault."

Craig represents Minnesota's Second District, a swing district including southern Twin Cities suburbs.

In her written statement, Craig said that in sentencing Hamlin, she hopes the court takes into account the significant consequences of his actions.

She also said she hopes that Hamlin receives mental health and addiction services to allow him to become a productive member of society. "Until that occurs, given his history of previous convictions and my own experience, I believe he would continue to be a further threat to others," she wrote.

Hamlin did not live in Craig's apartment building, but he was able to enter the lobby of the building at 6 a.m. where he defecated and paced around until Craig showed up about an hour later to get coffee. He followed her into the elevator and attacked her. She was able to escape after she threw her hot coffee on him.

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about the writer

Rochelle Olson

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Rochelle Olson is a reporter on the politics and government team.

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