Late Thursday, A man from Fairport, New York was charged with second-degree assault, due to his attack on US Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is currently running for the Governor seat of New York.
David Jakubonis, 43, allegedly walked onto the stage where the Republican candidate, Lee was giving a campaign speech for Perinton veterans about bail reform.
The 43-year-old man was lunging at the congressmen and tried to stab Rep. Zeldin with a small cat-faced weapon. The aggressor was seen constantly repeating the statement, ‘You’re done to the congressmen while grabbing his arms.
As he witnessed the man approaching the running Governor, the veteran jumped on the stage. Chenelly, who is a combat veteran, quickly tackled the suspect to the ground.
The footage shows the assailant jumping onto the stage swinging at Zeldin’s neck while others tackled the attacker down.
Chenelly who is currently running for the state Assembly told the outlet, Rochester First, that Jakubonis was an Iraq War veteran and he had offered to help the veteran after his thing with the court is over.
Zeldin’s campaign members restrained David Jakubonis until the law enforcement team arrived at the crime scene. The suspect was taken into custody by the Monroe Country Sherrif’s Office. He was arrested on a federal charge of assaulting an elected official using a harmful weapon.
Twitter Reacts To Alleged Attack On GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin
After the incident, the US congressmen wrote on Twitter, that his alleged assailant will likely be instantly released under NY’s insane cashless bail laws.
As he had predicted, the attacker who was charged with a second-degree attempted felony was instantly released from jail before trial, due to the 2019 bail reform law.
After the swift release of the suspect, Zeldin and Republicans criticized the news with dismay and expressed outrage, though the congressmen had predicted the result already.
Lee Zeldin is ready to unseat the incumbent Democratic Governor, Kathy Hochul this November. Kathy Hochul, along with President Joe Biden, condemned the attack on Zeldin with the strongest terms possible.
In her tweet, Hochul wrote, relieved to hear that her opponent Zeldin was unharmed and the suspect is in custody, and she condemns this sort of violent behavior as it has no place in New York. In a statement on Friday, Biden said, ‘Violence has no place in US politics and society”.
The Army Veteran’s Case Details
NY’s insane cashless bail law allowed the aggressor to walk on the street before trial on his own ‘recognizance’. This means, the suspect was allowed to go free based on his promise to show up for a trial, and with no bail required.
David Jakubonis showed up the first time before US Magistrate Judge in Rochester on Saturday where his cat-faced weapon was described as a self-defense keychain, as per court documents. The army veteran told the authorities, that he had whisky and didn’t know who Zeldin was at the time of the incident. And, as per court paperwork, Jakubonis was issued a travel restriction limited to Monroe Country.
However, the attack could ironically be a booster rocket for the rest of Zeldin’s campaign as a tough-on-crime candidate. Zeldin had already made his campaign’s central focus on New York’s rising crime rate. New York Governor candidate, Zeldin says he will increase security as long as he campaigns to unseat Kathy Hochul.