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Lee Zeldin Recounts Stage Ambush at NY Gov Race Rally; Alleged Attacker Faces Judge

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The man accused of attacking New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin on stage at an upstate New York rally has been released without bail after an arraignment in court Friday.

Zeldin, a U.S. Representative for Long Island, was at an event in Monroe County Thursday evening when a man climbed onstage and appeared to begin wrestling with the congressman, a campaign spokesperson said.

A video of the event in Fairport posted on Twitter showed the man appearing to grab Zeldin’s arm and the two fell to the ground as other people tried to intervene. Zeldin’s campaign said that the man tried to stab the candidate, but Zeldin grabbed his wrist to stop him and managed to escape uninjured.

The gubernatorial candidate held a press conference on Friday where he detailed the events of his campaign rally and the moment he saw the man approach onstage. Multiple cameras in the crowd captured 43-year-old David Jakubonis approach the congressman, appearing to try and stab him with a pointed weapon.

“I noticed he had a weapon in his hand,” Zeldin said. “When he lifted up his hand and was lunging for my throat area, my first thought was just to grab onto his wrist.”

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Several other individuals could be seen coming to assist in subduing the man. Zeldin was unharmed and returned to the stage to finish his remarks to the crowd, thanking law enforcement who helped.

Jakubonis looked disoriented as he was loaded into a county sheriff’s cruiser. According to a LinkedIn page assigned to a David Jakubonis from the Rochester area, he is a former US Army lab tech who’s been actively seeking employment for years. It’s still unknown if the attack was politically motivated. Efforts to reach Jakubonis’s attorney were unsuccessful.

After the alleged attacker was arraigned and released without bail, Republicans around the state amplified their message criticizing bail reform. This year, Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed through modest changes, expanding judicial discretion and adding crimes eligible for bail. But her critics say she didn’t go far enough.

New York’s GOP Chair Nick Langworthy tweeted, “Only in Kathy Hochul’s New York could a maniac violently attack a candidate and then be released without bail.”

Zeldin’s Democratic opponent in the race, Gov. Kathy Hochul, said in a tweet that “I condemn this violent behavior in the strongest terms possible — it has no place in New York.” She also said she was “relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not injured and that the suspect is in custody.” President Joe Biden released a statement echoing the governor’s words.

“I am especially grateful for the courage of those who immediately intervened, and that [Zeldin] is unharmed and was able to continue his speech,” the president said.

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Langworthy has called on Hochul to issue a security detail for Zeldin to protect him on the campaign trail.

“This could have gone a lot worse. This could have really ended in a horrible way tonight and this is unacceptable,” he said.

Zeldin is an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has represented eastern Long Island in Congress since 2015.



Source: NBC New York

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