GOP Candidate for NY Governor Attacked, Suspect Released Without Bail

Updated at 8:50 A.M. 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 but the congressman escaped serious injury.A Monroe County sheriff’s spokesman said David Jakubonis, 43, was arrested after trying to attack Mr. Zeldin and was later arraigned on a charge of attempted assault in the second degree. He has been released without bail. It’s not clear whether Mr. Jakubonis has an attorney who can speak for him. A message seeking comment was left at a number listed for Mr. Jakubonis.Mr. Jakubonis is an Army veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2009 as a medical laboratory technician.The incident happened as Mr. Zeldin, who is challenging Governor Hochul this November, was addressing a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in the town of Perinton, outside Rochester.The assailant brandished a pointed metal object shaped like a cat’s head, photos from the scene show.The attacker swung the weapon toward Mr. Zeldin’s neck and told him, “You’re done,” according to the sheriff’s spokesman, Deputy Brendan Hurley.“I’m OK,” Mr. Zeldin said in a statement. “Fortunately, I was able to grab his wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him.”Mr. 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.“Thanks to the swift action of several brave eventgoers, the perpetrator was subdued,” the New York state GOP chairman, Nick Langworthy, said in a statement.Mr. Zeldin’s campaign said the attacker was taken into custody and the congressman continued his speech. In a statement, Ms. Hochul condemned the attack and said she was “relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not injured.In a statement, Ms. Hochul condemned the attack and said she was “relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not injured.” Mr. Langworthy told the AP that he exchanged text messages with Mr. Zeldin afterward while the congressman was speaking to police.“He is fine. He’s not seriously injured. It’s just a chaotic scene there,” Mr. Langworthy said.Mr. Langworthy said Mr. Zeldin had “just a little scrape” but it wasn’t what anyone would consider an injury. He said he was told that Mr. Zeldin’s running mate, a former New York Police Department deputy inspector, Alison Esposito, was there and among those who helped to subdue the man.Mr. Langworthy is calling on Ms. Hochul to issue a security detail for Mr. 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.Mr. Zeldin, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented eastern Long Island in Congress since 2015, is a staunch ally of President Trump and was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.He is challenging the incumbent, Ms. Hochul, this November.

GOP Candidate for NY Governor Attacked, Suspect Released Without Bail

More from the New York Sun

Airports Promote Food Banks, Gift Cards for Unpaid TSA Workers as Spring Break Begins

Michigan Synagogue Attacker Is Naturalized Citizen Whose Hezbollah-Linked Relatives Died in Lebanon Airstrike

Religious Man Sues Los Angeles County for Not Letting Him Work From Home in June To Avoid ‘Pride’ Flag, Celebrations

Lew Lehrman: Prophet of Honest Money

Jack Schlossberg’s Congressional Hopes Imperiled as Bloomberg Endorses Nadler Protégé, Micah Lasher

Blue States, With Taxes on High Earners, Commit Political and Economic Suicide

Frustrated Fani Willis Denounces GOP ‘Clown Show’ Even as She Suffers Setback in Effort To Avoid Paying Trump’s Legal Bills

Democrats’ Calls To Tax the Rich Overlook Urgent Need To Tame Reckless Government Overspending