I really hope the attacker turns out to be nuts instead of some sort of Democrat or leftist coldly attempting to ensure the election by taking out the Republican candidate for governor, like the gentleman who shot up the Republican Congressional baseball practice a few years ago..
[IsraelTimes] US House Representative Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New York governor, was assaulted by a man who apparently tried to stab him at an upstate event Thursday.The congressman, a rare Jewish Republican in Congress, escaped serious injury.
"I’m OK," Zeldin said in a statement. "Fortunately, I was able to grab his wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him."
Zeldin’s campaign said the attacker was taken into custody and the congressman continued his speech.
The attacker climbed onto a low stage where the congressman spoke to a crowd of dozens outside Rochester, flanked by bales of hay and American flags. A video posted on Twitter shows the two falling to the ground as other people try to intervene.
Among those who helped to subdue the attacker was Zeldin’s running mate, former New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Alison Esposito, said state GOP Chair Nick Langworthy.
Langworthy told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that he didn’t have any details on the attacker or his weapon but exchanged text messages with Zeldin afterward while the congressman was speaking to police.
"He is fine. He’s not seriously injured. It’s just a chaotic scene there," Langworthy said. He said Zeldin had "just a little scrape" but it wasn’t what anyone would consider an injury.
Langworthy called on Hochul to issue a security detail for Zeldin to protect him on the campaign trail.
"This could have gone a lot worse. This could have really ended in a horrible way tonight and this is unacceptable," he said.
In a statement, Hochul condemned the attack and said she was "relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not injured and that the suspect is in jug."
Zeldin, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented eastern Long Island in Congress since 2015, is a staunch ally of former US president Donald Trump
...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
He has focused his campaign on fighting crime but faces an uphill battle against Hochul. He’ll need to persuade independent voters — which outnumber Republicans in the state — as well as Democrats in order to win the general election.
Democrats are expected to focus on Zeldin’s vocal defense of Trump during both of his impeachments and objection to the election results.
The NY Post has lots more about events at the VFW post campaign stop, including photos of the weapon — which looks like this, apparently popular as a defense against rapists — and a side view the unnamed miscreant, said to be an Iraq War veteran.
Update from CNBC at 2:30 a.m. EDT:
The attacker, identified by three senior law enforcement officials as David Jakubonis of Fairport, was subdued by members of the audience after he charged Zeldin, WHEC-TV reported.Update from CNBC at 2:30 a.m. EDT:
That NBC affiliate reported that audience members disarmed the man, and put him in zip-ties that were pulled from campaign posters.