FBI agents have arrested two Oregon brothers who are accused of breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Matthew Leland Klein, 24, and Jonathanpeter Allen Klein, 21, are the first Oregon residents to be charged in the Capitol riot. They were each caught on video storming the Capitol, according to federal authorities.
They face charges of conspiracy, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, destruction of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
The younger brother has described himself as a Proud Boy and wore a “Proud Boy PDX” shirt in a Jan. 5 photo taken in Washington, D.C., according to the FBI.
Both Kleins also attended a Proud Boys rally in Portland’s Delta Park on Sept. 26 , when Matthew Klein was cited on gun allegations, and a demonstration outside Oregon’s Capitol in Salem on Sept. 7, according to court documents.
A federal prosecutor described the brothers as “dangerous powder kegs” in his memo seeking their continued detention. Both are being held in Portland’s downtown jail but will face prosecution in Washington, D.C.
Matthew Klein (left) was booked into Portland's downtown jail on Tuesday and Jonathanpeter Klein (right) on Wednesday, jail records show.
More than 300 people have been charged in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot. Authorities have said they believe at least 100 more could face charges. The riot temporarily halted members of Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 Electoral College vote as they were forced to evacuate the House and Senate chambers while police struggled to hold back the intruders.
FBI agents arrested the Klein brothers Tuesday -- Matthew Klein in Sherwood and Jonathanpeter Klein in Heppner, according to the FBI.
On Dec. 27, Jonathanpeter Klein notified his employer that he wanted to take time off in the new year, from Jan. 4 through Jan. 8, so he and his brother could attend the “Stop the Steal Rally in DC,” according to the indictment.
In an Instagram message, Matthew Klein told another person that he was planning to travel to D.C.: “Yep! Got the time off and am going with one of my bro’s. stoked af,” according to court records.
The brothers bought airline tickets on Dec. 29 to fly to Philadelphia on Jan. 4 and then to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, according to the indictment. They paid cash for the tickets.
The two are accused of entering the U.S. Capitol shortly after 2 p.m. on Jan. 6.
Matthew Klein assisted members of the crowd, who had breached the Capitol’s restricted grounds, by using a police barricade to climb a wall and gain access to an external stairwell leading to the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol, the indictment says.
A still image from a video that shows Matthew Klein, with goggles on his forehead, assisting others with climbing a police barricade to ascend the wall, which is located next to an external stairway that leads from the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace to the Upper West Terrance, according to court documents.
Jonathanpeter Klein entered the Capitol at 2:16 p.m. through a door on the northwest side and his older brother followed two minutes later, according to prosecutors.
Once inside, Jonathanpeter Klein engaged in “a celebratory exchange with an identified member of the Proud Boys” and greeted another person, saying “proud of your (expletive) boy!” the indictment says.
By 2:29 p.m., Jonathanpeter Klein and fellow rioters had made their way from the Senate side of the Capitol, through a line of law enforcement officers in the Capitol’s Crypt, to the House of Representatives side, before they proceeded up a flight of stairs to the Capitol’s Rotunda, according to the indictment.
Matthew Leland Klein captured on video footage inside the U.S. Capitol, holding and waving a Gadsen flag, according to the FBI.
After the brothers exited the Capitol, they forcibly opened a secured door on the Capitol’s north side, prosecutors allege.
When federal officers responded, Matthew Klein put on protective goggles, stood directly in front of the door and advanced toward them holding a Gadsden flag affixed to a flagpole to interfere with police efforts to disperse the crowd, according to the indictment. Officers sprayed what appeared to be pepper spray in Matthew Klein’s face, the indictment says.
An examination of a mobile device associated with Jonathanpeter Klein suggests he was in and around the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 for about two and a half hours, according to the indictment.
“The defendants joined together to wrench open a secure door on the Capitol’s north side. Behind that door, law enforcement officers tasked with protecting the Capitol and its inhabitants prepared to fend off yet another wave of attacks from the unruly crowd,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul T. Maloney wrote in a detention memo.
“The defendants’ actions created a dangerous scenario that directly interfered with law enforcement’s efforts to secure the building,” Maloney wrote. “That they did so as part of a second or third wave of attacks -- with knowledge of the mayhem that had already unfolded at the Capitol -- shows their reckless disregard for others and the danger posed by these two actors.”
Still image of Jonathanpeter A. Klein inside the U.S. Capitol, according to the FBI.
A Jan. 5 photo of the brothers at a rally in support of former President Donald Trump outside the U.S. Supreme Court building helped FBI agents identify them the next day breaching the Capitol, the detention memo says.
Investigators also found photos of the brothers attending a Sept. 7 rally at the Oregon Capitol, where about 100 supporters of Trump, including members of the Proud Boys, traveled and clashed with about 20 Black Lives Matter protesters.
Jonathanpeter A. Klein, pictured in orange shirt, photographed firing a paintball gun at an unidentified target during a demonstration at Oregon's Capitol building in Salem.
At the Oregon Capitol, Jonathanpeter Klein was armed with a yellow baseball bat and paintball gun and Matthew Klein was seen in a photo wearing a blue shirt, goggles, body armor and red-and-black fingerless gloves with the words “Firm Grip” on them, according to the detention memo.
Photos caught Jonathanpeter Klein chasing down a Black Lives Matter protester and shooting a paintball gun at an unknown target, Maloney wrote in the memo.
On Sept. 26, Portland police stopped a tan Toyota Tacoma truck that Matthew Klein was riding in as it left the Proud Boys rally at Delta Park and cited him on two misdemeanor allegations of unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in public and one count of unlawful possession of firearms.
The weapons allegations against Matthew Klein were pending in Multnomah County Circuit Court at the time of the U.S. Capitol riot, federal authorities noted. The charges remain pending with an April trial date set.
Matthew Klein was in the bed of the truck with two other men holding paintball guns, and the truck had no license plate, according to a probable cause affidavit. Police spotted the paintball guns and shields and believed those in the truck “were looking to initiate a response from and/or acting violently towards those they perceived to be counter to their ideals,” Maloney wrote.
Portland police stopped a truck Matthew L. Klein was riding in as it left a Proud Boy rally at Delta Park. Found with a loaded 9mm handgun, he was cited on two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm in a public place and two counts of unlawful possession of firearms.
Police recovered a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun from a back passenger seat in the truck, according to police. Matthew Klein said the loaded gun belonged to him, the prosecutor wrote. Police also removed five paintball guns, five shields and an ax handle from the truck. One of the shields was painted black and yellow and a blue shield carried an anti-Black Lives Matter message, “(Expletive) BLM,” according to the court records.
Jonathanpeter Klein was also seen in photos at the Sept. 26 Proud Boys rally in Portland, wearing the same distinctive red, white and blue neck gaiter he wore to the U.S. Capitol in early January, according to court records.
In the detention memo, Maloney argued that the brothers should remain in custody, citing their involvement in prior demonstrations.
“Both have demonstrated a preparedness and willingness, if not eagerness, to engage in violence against those with whom they disagree, be it Black Lives Matters supporters or the United States government,” Maloney wrote. “The defendants’ dress and weapons at the September 7, 2020 event in Salem appears to encapsulate their apparent desire to engage in violence with those holding opinions different than their own.”
The indictment notes that the Proud Boys describe themselves as members of a “pro-Western fraternal organization for men who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world; aka Western Chauvinists.”
Proud Boys leaders have targeted Portland for large-scale rallies. Joe Biggs and Enrique Tarrio helped draw hundreds from around the country to the national rally in Delta Park last year and to Portland in August 2019 for a so-called “End to Domestic Terrorism,” rally to condemn the city’s anti-fascist activists. Biggs faces charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot. Tarrio was arrested two days before in Washington, D.C., after police say he had destroyed a Black Lives Matter banner at an historic Black church in December.
The Kleins’ cases will be handled in the District of Columbia. Jonathanpeter Klein appeared briefly before Oregon’s U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta via phone from Umatilla County Jail on Tuesday afternoon. Matthew Klein appeared before the judge via video from a U.S. Marshals lockup in the federal courthouse in Portland.
Acosta ordered both men detained as flight risks and dangers to the community.
-- Maxine Bernstein
Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian