A man took to the stage and threatened Congressman Lee Zeldin with a sharp object on Thursday as he delivered a speech on his campaign trail for governor of New York, his staff said. The candidate was not injured.
Videos posted on social media by witnesses showed an unidentified man wearing a black baseball cap approaching Zeldin at a rally in upstate New York holding a sharp object.
The man, who can be heard telling Zeldin “you’re finished” over and over again while reaching for the Republican candidate’s face or neck. Zeldin pushed him away before the two men fell to the ground while several others tried to subdue the suspect.
A spokeswoman for the Zeldin campaign, Katie Vincentz, said on Twitter that the suspect attempted to stab the congressman. Vincentz said Zeldin and members of his team were unharmed.
“Zeldin grabbed the assailant’s wrist to detain him until others helped him take him down. The police arrested the man,” Vincentz said.
She said Zeldin finished his speech after the incident and thanked the officers who responded to the attack.
“Relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not harmed and that the suspect is in custody,” current New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat and Zeldin’s opponent in the race, said on Twitter.
“I condemn this violent behavior in the strongest possible terms – it has no place in New York,” Hochul said.
Amid recent shootings and the return of the debate over access to weapons in the country, the United States is concerned about the intensification of political polarization, which could lead to a multiplication of cases such as the attack on Zeldin. A similar picture is seen in Brazil, with an increase in episodes of political violence, the most recent peak of which was the death of a PT member by a Bolsonarista in Foz do Iguaçu (PR).
