Topline
A person with a baseball bat attacked two aides of Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), at the congressman’s district office in Fairfax, Virginia, on Monday morning, sending them both to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement from the congressman—in the latest act of violence targeting a member of Congress or their staff.
Ranking member Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., speaks during a committee on House Administration … [+]
Key Facts
The attacker—who asked to see Connolly before attacking his staff—is now in police custody, the statement said.
The attacker used a metal bat to hit a senior aide in the head and an intern, who was working her first day on the job, in the side, CNN reported.
“The thought that someone would take advantage of my staff’s availability to commit an act of violence is unconscionable and devastating,” Connolly said in his statement.
The suspect’s identity has not been released and it is unclear what charges the person may face.
Key Background
This attack is the latest made against a member of Congress, their families or their staff in recent months. Paul Pelosi—the husband of longtime House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)—was beaten by a hammer-wielding intruder inside his San Francisco home in October 2022, while Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) was assaulted inside an elevator in her D.C. apartment building in February and a staffer of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was attacked on a D.C. street in March. Threat levels for members of Congress had been growing since 2017, but the number of threats investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police dropped for the first time in five years in 2022, though officials say threat levels remain historically high. Dr. Mario Scalora, the U.S. Capitol Police’s consulting psychologist, said in a January news release announcing the drop in investigated threats that the police department’s Threat Assessment Section’s “caseload has increased because people on social media have a false sense of anonymity and feel more emboldened.”
Big Number
144%. That’s how much the cases investigated by the Capitol Police’s Threat Assessment Section increased from 2017 to 2021, when it peaked at 9,625. In 2022, there were 7,501 cases investigated.
Further Reading
Statement from Congressman Gerry Connolly on District Office Attack (Twitter)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/05/15/rep-gerry-connolly-says-staff-assaulted-by-bat-wielding-attacker/