U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY)
Source: CNBC
A 43-year-old man attacked New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin at a campaign event Thursday night.
Zeldin was not injured in the incident, which occurred while he was speaking outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Fairport, a village near Rochester, NBC News reported.
Zeldin said he grabbed the assailant’s wrist and stopped him for a few moments before others tackled the man.
The gunman, identified by three top law enforcement officials as David Iakubonis of Fairport, was subdued by audience members after accusing Zeldin, WHEC-TV reported.
This NBC affiliate reported that audience members disarmed the man and put neckties on him taken from campaign posters.
The suspect may have had some kind of bladed instrument, NBC News reported.
Zeldin, who represents a congressional district in Suffolk County, Long Island, is campaigning to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat.
Hochul tweeted: “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 New York,” Hochul tweeted.
Hochul took office last year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace following accusations of sexual harassment by nearly a dozen women.