A staffer for Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) was attacked at gunpoint in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, the congressman said Friday—the latest in a rash of violent incidents involving politicians or their staff—and Finstad quickly used it to blast presumably Democratic “soft-on-crime policies.”
Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) said his staffer was attacked at gunpoint outside of his Washington, ... [+]
The male staffer was attacked outside his home “just blocks from the U.S. Capitol building” following a congressional baseball game for charity, Finstad said in a statement.
The staffer suffered “minor” physical injuries and is expected to make a full recovery, Finstad said, thanking the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department “for their quick response and their attention to this incident.”
The names of the staffer and the alleged attacker, or the individual’s motive, have not been made public, and it’s unclear if police made an arrest in the incident.
Forbes has reached out to D.C. Metropolitan Police.
Finstad’s statement linked the attack to what he called “anti-police, soft-on-crime policies,” invoking the preferred GOP terms to refer to Democrat-backed criminal justice reforms. “It’s time we start treating criminals like criminals and bring back commonsense [sic] policies that imprison career criminals, keep the public safe, and allow our police officers to adequately protect our communities and keep violent criminals off the streets,” he said.
The attack comes after an attacker hit a senior aide to Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.) in the head with a baseball bat and an intern on May 15 inside his Fairfax district office—among several recent incidents of violence involving federal lawmakers and people close to them. Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was beaten with a hammer by an intruder at the couple’s San Francisco home in October, Rep. Annie Craig (D-Minn.) was assaulted inside her D.C. apartment building in February, and a staffer to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was “brutally attacked” in March on the street in D.C., the congressman said.
7,500. That’s the number of threats against members of Congress Capitol Police recorded last year, up from 4,600 in 2017, but down from 9,600 in 2021.
Rep. Gerry Connolly Says Staff Assaulted By Bat-Wielding Attacker (Forbes)
Rand Paul Says Staffer ‘Brutally Attacked’ In D.C. (Forbes)
Accused Pelosi Attacker Reportedly Had ‘List’ Of Potential Targets (Forbes)