New York’s Albany During a Thursday evening campaign appearance for governor in the upstate, Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin was assaulted. According to a statement from the Zeldin campaign, Zeldin was speaking at a VFW in Fairport, close to Rochester, to start off a four-day “Unite to Fire Hochul” bus tour when a guy allegedly tried to knife him on stage. Zeldin is the Democratic governor’s opponent in November. Zeldin was unharmed. When audience members and those on stage realised the man was armed, there were numerous chaotic moments, as seen in a video obtained by Spectrum News.
The campaign said that Zeldin stopped the alleged assault by grabbing his wrist, and that he was helped to the ground by a number of other people. According to WHEC-TV, audience members used zip ties they had taken from campaign posters to disarm and catch the culprit. The man approaches Zeldin from behind, taps him on the shoulder with his left hand, and motions toward Zeldin with his right hand, as shown in a WHEC-TV video. According to reports, the man’s right hand was holding a pointed, cat-shaped self-defense key chain that he used as knuckle dusters.
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Zeldin concluded his remarks as police apprehended the alleged assailant. All of the team members, including Zeldin and Alison Esposito, his running mate for lieutenant governor, are safe, according to spokeswoman Katie Vincentz. Congressman Zeldin, regrettably, is only the most recent New Yorker whose life has been impacted by the city’s out of control crime and violence, according to a statement from Vincent. This must end immediately! Thankfully, there are still outstanding police officers available to answer the call to keep our streets safe.
Hochul sent a statement on Twitter shortly after the news broke, denouncing the event. “My team has let me know about the incident at tonight’s campaign event for Lee Zeldin. I’m relieved to learn that Congressman Zeldin is unharmed and that the culprit has been apprehended. I strongly condemn this aggressive behavior because it has no place in New York, the statement said.
Nick Langworthy, the chair of the state GOP party, blasted Hochul and the state Democratic Committee for their response. Just a few hours before, her team released a statement that was a mirror image of Zeldin’s announcement of his statewide tour, but that also included criticisms of his campaign for each location. The stops’ locations were not specified.
“On Thursday, July 21, 2022, “Big Lie” Lee and his group of extremists launch the statewide “MAGA Republican” Bus Tour, which will make stops around the state promoting his far-right agenda and hazardous lies. Top opponents of abortion, NRA supporters, and members of a cast of radical organizations would accompany Zeldin at sites on the tour, it stated. RSVP to learn more about Zeldin’s “Election Integrity Task Force” and his recent election fraud fiasco, in which his campaign photocopied more than 11,000 duplicate petition signatures. a section of the mocked schedule was read.
According to Langworthy, the messaging “fanned the flames.” In a statement, he added that while “Congressman Zeldin and all of the attendees are unharmed, this could have ended far worse.” It’s hardly a coincidence that Kathy Hochul had just hours earlier incited hatred by guiding her supporters to the dates of his rallies. Even more so for a governor who is currently in office, this behaviour is reprehensible. Condemning the attack is insufficient; she needs to immediately retract her inflammatory statements and offer an apology.
