GOP House Rep Lee Zeldin was attacked on stage during a campaign event for his New York Gubernatorial bid. He seeks to replace liberal Democrat Kathy Hochul (who replaced Andrew Cuomo) as the next Governor of New York. His most recent campaign stop was in Perinton, New York which is directly outside of Rochester in upstate. A man in his early to mid-40s appears on stage at a certain point during the speech. Video of the incident captures audio of the crowd stunned and confused at the man’s presence. Lee Zeldin later stated that the man was wearing an Iraq War Veteran cap so he did not initially view him as a threat. Zeldin stated that the man told him “you’re done” during the attempted attack.
The man produces a “defensive key ring” weapon and tries to stab Lee Zeldin in the neck. The object looks like something a young girl would have in her purse. It was similar to brass knuckles due to having two large holes where fingers would go through and rest. The big holes were the eyes of a cat and the rest of the ring was made to look like a cat’s head. The two “ears” of the cat were pointed to resemble the fixed blades of a knife. Unfortunately for the attacker, Lee Zeldin is a trained martial artist. He used his black belt skills to think quickly and secure the man’s wrist to prevent the stabbing. Quite a few people who were nearby stepped in to subdue the suspect until police arrived just a few moments later. The attacker was charged with a felony count of assault and, unfortunately, released almost immediately with no bail.
SOURCES:
Lee Zeldin attacker quickly released from jail
Lee Zeldin says black belt training helped him fend off attacker: ‘That was pretty nuts’ | Fox News
GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin attacked but unharmed at New York gubernatorial campaign event | CNN Politics
Rep. Lee Zeldin attacked at Perinton campaign stop, suspect charged | RochesterFirst
Lee Zeldin, GOP nominee for NY governor, assaulted at rally | AP News
U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin attacked on stage at New York campaign event
New York gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin attacked at rally – CBS News
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