On Thursday, a man tried to stab Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin in the town of Perinton, which is near Rochester, New York.
In the evening, the suspect ran onto the stage and tried to stab Lee Zeldin, which stopped the rally for Veterans of Foreign Wars. After Zeldin and the alleged attacker fought for a short time, the man was held back by Zeldin’s supporters, including Joe Chenelly, the national director of the AMVETS.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department said in an official statement that the case is being looked into.
“We know that there was a problem at tonight’s speech by Zeldin, who is running for governor. A suspect is being held, and Major Crimes is looking into what happened. We’ll let you know when new information comes in.”
The suspect has not been named by the authorities yet.
Lee Zeldin didn’t stop giving his speech because someone tried to hurt him.
CNBC says that the attack happened while Lee Zeldin was giving a speech on how to change the way bail works.
In an interview with Rochester First, a witness talked about what happened after the attacker ran onto the stage and tried to get to Lee Zeldin.
“(The attacker) fought with him for a while and then pulled out a knife.”
After the attacker was stopped, Zeldin went back on stage and continued his speech. Katie Vincentz, a spokeswoman for the gubernatorial candidates, said that Alison Esposito, a candidate for lieutenant governor, was near the attack and was later found to be safe and unharmed.
“After tonight’s attack, Congressman Zeldin, Alison Esposito, and everyone else on Team Zeldin are all safe. To make New York safe again, a lot more needs to be done. In this state, this is really getting out of hand.”
She went on:
“Congressman Zeldin is just the latest New Yorker whose life has been affected by the violence and crime that are out of control in the city. This can’t go on! We’re lucky that there are still great people in law enforcement who answer the call to protect our streets.”
After the mugging of Christopher Braugh, an aide to New York Mayor Eric Adams, crime in the city was already a hot topic of conversation. Braugh was working for the mayor in Brooklyn when two men with guns held him up and stole his stuff. This and the attack on Lee Zeldin are seen as signs that law and order are getting worse across the state.