Zeldin was giving a speech in Fairport, New York, when a man walked up to the stage “and attempted to stab” Zeldin, a campaign statement said. The GOP lawmaker “grabbed the assailant’s wrist to restrain him until several others helped to lower the assailant to the ground,” according to the release. The lawmaker returned to the stage to finish his remarks after the alleged shooter was taken into custody, Zeldin’s campaign said. David G. Jakubonis, 43, of Fairport, N.Y., was charged with attempted second-degree assault, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said. He was arraigned in municipal court and released on his own recognizance. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hotchul, Zeldin’s opponent in the November gubernatorial race, tweeted Thursday night that she was “relieved to hear” that he was not injured in the incident. “My team informed me of the incident at Lee Zeldin’s campaign event tonight. I am relieved to hear that Congressman Zeldin was not injured and that the suspect is in custody. I condemn this violent behavior in the strongest possible terms — it has no place in the New York,” Hochul wrote. Zeldin announced his run for governor last year, tweeting that “the light that was the beacon of what America can be has gone dark.” He won the Republican nomination in the race last month. Zeldin was a staunch defender of former President Donald Trump during his presidency, including publicly defending him during his second impeachment trial. He also repeated Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election and voted against the certification of the 2020 election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Zeldin was first elected to Congress in 2014 after serving four years in the New York State Senate. Hochul, meanwhile, beat progressive challenger alderman and New York Public Defender Jumaane Williams, whom she also beat in the 2018 primary for lieutenant governor. CNN’s Samantha Beech contributed to this report.
