Topline
A staffer for Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) was attacked at gunpoint —the latest in a rash of violent incidents involving politicians or their staff.
Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) said his staffer was attacked at gunpoint outside of his Washington, … [+]
Key Facts
Finstad announced the attack in a statement, saying the staffer suffered minor injuries after he was attacked outside of his home “just blocks from the U.S. Capitol building” following a congressional baseball game for charity.
But the police report indicates the alleged attack happened just after 3 a.m. Thursday—about five hours after Republicans beat Democrats in a charity baseball game at Nationals Park—and just steps from the staffer’s apartment building, which is about a one-and-a-half mile walk from the Capitol.
The Finstad staffer told police two males wearing black hoodies pushed him to the ground and pointed a black handgun at him outside of his apartment building as he was walking home early Thursday, according a report from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department obtained by Forbes that describes the incident as a simple assault with attempted robbery.
No arrests have been made and the incident is under investigation, D.C. Metropolitan Police spokesperson Sean Hickman told Forbes.
Six years earlier, on June 14, 2017, gunman James Hodgkinson critically wounded Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and injured four others, including two Capitol police officers, during what police said was a methodically staged attack on a congressional baseball practice, where Hodgkinson fired at least 70 rounds from an assault rifle before he was killed in a shootout with police.
Crucial Quote
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.
Key Background
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.
Big Number
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.
Further Reading
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)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/06/16/another-congressional-staffer-attacked-rep-finstad-blames-anti-police-policies/