Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., pictured here at a press conference earlier this month, was attacked inside the elevator at her apartment complex in Washington, DC on Thursday.
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Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., pictured here at a press conference earlier this month, was attacked inside the elevator at her apartment complex in Washington, DC on Thursday.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., is bruised but otherwise OK after fending off an assailant in the elevator of her DC apartment building on Thursday.
Police say the alleged assailant, 26-year-old Kendrick Hamlin, is in custody charged with common assault. The attack does not appear to be politically motivated, Craig’s chief of staff Nick Coe said in a statement.
According to the police report, Craig spotted his attacker in the lobby of his apartment complex around 7:10 a.m. The man was “acting erratically as if under the influence of an unknown substance,” said Craig told the police.
She said “Hello” to the man before entering the elevator. The man followed her “and started doing random push-ups,” the report said.
The man then punched Craig in the chin and grabbed her by the neck, according to the report. Craig told police she threw her hot coffee at the man, who then fled.
Police said they did not immediately find the attacker after searching the basement parking lot. A bulletin requesting public advice on its location offered a reward of $1,000.
The suspect was arrested a few hours later. Police noted that he had no fixed address.
The MP “suffered from bruises, but she is physically fine”, according to her chief of staff. Craig visited the Capitol shortly after the incident, voting three times as part of the day’s proceedings.
Craig, 50, is in his third term in Congress, representing Minnesota’s 2nd congressional district, just south of Minneapolis. She is co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.
Fellow Minnesota Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar tweeted Thursday about the incident, saying Craig was not deterred from attending a meeting on her district.
To give you an idea of the strength @AngieCraigMN that is to say, she went straight to the Hill this morning and attended a meeting in the Senate with the Governor and myself and several members of our delegation about legislation for the people of her district .
Nobody jokes with Angie. https://t.co/D7TizOeTQ9
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 9, 2023
“Nobody’s making fun of Angie,” Klobuchar added.
The attacker does not appear to be politically motivated, according to Craig’s office, but it is the latest in a string of abuses against elected officials and their families, raising questions about the security of office.
Capitol Police investigated 7,501 threats against members of Congress last year, a slight decrease from the number in 2020 and 2021 – but US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the number was “still too high”.
The Capitol Police, which operates one at a time however regularly in cooperation with the DC Metropolitan Police, mentioned it has larger protecting measures towards contributors of Congress however isn’t discussing them for safety causes.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve a $2.1 billion investment package deal for Capitol police in 2021 following the Jan. 6 assault at the Capitol.
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