PORTLAND, Ore. — Two brothers arrested this week in Oregon on federal charges of participating in the U.S. Capitol insurrection will be held in custody pending trial on six felony charges.
Matthew Klein, 24, and Jonathanpeter Klein, 21, appeared separately Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui in the District of Columbia court via video conference from Portland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Both are expected to remain detained at least until their next court hearing scheduled for April 1. The brothers are being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland.
The federal magistrate judge who presided over the brothers’ hearings cited a ruling out Friday from a U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals panel regarding a Tennessee mother and son charged in the Jan. 6 riot who challenged their pre-trial detention.
The appeals panel wrote that in its view “those who actually assaulted police officers and broke through windows, doors, and barricades and those who aided, conspired with, planned or coordinated such actions, are in a different category of dangerousness than those who cheered on the violence or entered the Capitol after others cleared the way.”
The Kleins were among the first group to breach the Capitol about 2:16 p.m., after Matthew Klein helped others climb a wall to gain access to a stairwell leading to the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace, prosecutors have said. Prosecutors have also alleged they wrenched open a door on the north side of the U.S. Capitol after having already entered and exited the building.
“The exact example of what the court gave is what the defendant has done,” Faruqui said during Jonathanpeter Klein’s hearing.
Jonathanpeter Klein has described himself as a member of the far-right extremist Proud Boys group, which calls itself a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists.”
He was photographed on Jan. 5 with his brother while wearing a Proud Boys shirt. That helped law enforcement identify the brothers, the FBI has said.
Matthew Klein also faces charges in Multnomah County where he is accused of carrying a loaded firearm in a truck after Portland police stopped it leaving a Proud Boys rally in September, according to court records. Those charges were pending when he participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the prosecutor said.
The brothers have not yet entered pleas to the federal charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, destruction of government property, entering a restricted building, and disorderly conduct.
Jonathanpeter Klein’s defense lawyer Michelle Sweet had urged for her client to be released pending trial.
She said he could if released continue to work at a ranch in eastern Oregon. Nanci Klein, the brothers’ mother, wrote a letter to the court saying that they could stay at her home.
The Kleins are among hundreds charged in the insurrection. The attack temporarily delayed certification of the presidential election.
