Yesterday, 100 Percent Fed Up reported the assassination attempt on Representative Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Republican candidate for Governor in New York, while he was speaking Thursday evening.
Hours before the man’s attack on Zeldin, New York’s (UNELECTED) Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign sent out a press release revealing the time and location details of several of Zeldin, her Republican challenger in the New York gubernatorial race’s upcoming campaign stops. The press release encouraged her supporters to confront Republican challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin on his “far-right agenda” hours before the man wielding a knife tried to attack Zeldin at a campaign stop in Fairport, New York.
The media advisory, titled” ‘Big Lie’ Lee kicks off statewide ‘MAGA Republican’ bus tour,” to subscribers of its email list. According to NY1 reporter Zack Fink, that email contained information about Zeldin’s upcoming campaign events, including the dates and times the events were scheduled to begin.
Very unusual advisory from @KathyHochul ⬇️ just now, basically making fun of @leezeldin by mocking his campaign schedule this weekend and replacing his events with Democratic talking points about Trump.
Usually the targeted attacks come from @nydems and @JayJacobs28 pic.twitter.com/1SaOrbaOX4
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) July 21, 2022
“On Thursday, July 21, 2022, ‘Big Lie’ Lee and his entourage of extremists kick off the statewide ‘MAGA Republican’ Bus Tour, which will make stops across the state peddling dangerous lies, misinformation, and his far-right agenda,” the campaign email stated. “At stops during the tour, Zeldin will be joined by top anti-abortion advocates, NRA enthusiasts, and a cast of extremist groups.”
Highlighting Thursday’s event held by Zeldin, Hochul’s campaign wrote in the email: “RSVP to hear about Zeldin’s ‘Election Integrity Task Force,’ and his recent election fraud scandal in which his campaign photocopied over 11,000 duplicate petition signatures.”
A video of the incident (below) shows Zeldin giving a speech about bail reform before he is confronted on stage by a man who “wrestled with him a bit, and pulled a blade out,” before AMVETS national Director Joe Chenelly intervened to stop him.
Nick Reisman, a New York state politics reporter for Spectrum News, tweeted the video of the attack involving Rep. Zeldin from witness Cody Crippen.
Watch the video showing the attack below:
Here is video of the attack involving Rep. Zeldin from witness Cody Crippen pic.twitter.com/Ur1CfpkdsS
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) July 22, 2022
The press release accused Zeldin of using his platform to “peddle dangerous lies, misinformation, and his far-right agenda.”
Journalist and author Andy Ngô replied to Hochu’s tweet regarding the attack:
Governor, you seemed to suggest there should have been vigilante violence by inaccurately describing that campaign event as filled with "far-right extremists." That is the same language and dog whistle used by Antifa militants to urge comrades to injure or kill targets. pic.twitter.com/OXhXh5J73c
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) July 22, 2022
The suspect, David G. Jakubonis, 43, of Fairport, N.Y., was charged with attempted assault in the second degree. He was arraigned in Perinton Town Court and released within hours on his own recognizance, exactly as Zeldin had predicted that under the state’s lax laws for dangerous individuals, his attacker would be released.