Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) was assaulted in her Washington, D.C., apartment building Thursday morning, suffering minor injuries. The attacker fled the scene, but a suspect was arrested later in the day after police released a photo of him.
Craig, 50, defended herself from an attacker in her building’s elevator around 7:15 a.m. and “suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” according to a statement from her chief of staff, Nick Coe.
There is no evidence the attack was politically motivated, according to the statement from Craig’s staff. A police report said that a hate crime is not suspected in the alleged attack on Minnesota’s first openly lesbian member of Congress, CNBC reported.
The alleged attacker fled the scene before officers arrived. The Metropolitan Police Department released an image of his face captured by a surveillance camera.
A suspect — 26-year-old Kendrick Hamlin, who has no fixed address — was arrested Thursday and charged with simple assault, according to a press release.
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Craig told police she first saw the alleged attacker in the lobby, “acting erratic as if he was under the influence on an unknown substance,” according to a police report tweeted by CNN reporter Melanie Zanona.
The lawmaker said “good morning” and they followed her into the elevator, “began to randomly do push ups,” and then “with a closed fist punched her on the chin area of her face, and later grabbed her neck,” the report said.
She “defended her self by tossing her hot coffee” at the alleged attacker, according to the report. The statement from Craig’s chief of staff said the suspect fled the scene after she called 911.
Two officers searched a basement-level parking lot but did not find him there, according to the report.
In a statement, the leader of House Democrats, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, said “the House Democratic Caucus family is horrified” by the incident, CNN reported.
Jeffries said he asked the U.S. Capitol Police and the House sergeant at arms “to ensure that Angie and her family are safe while in our nation’s capital and at home in Minnesota.”
