Gerry Connolly: Democratic congressman’s staff attacked by man with baseball bat

(CNN) Virginia Democratic Rep. Jerry Connolly said on Monday that two employees were injured when a man with a baseball bat came to a Fairfax borough office.

Connolly told CNN that the attacker broke into his office and attacked two aides with a metal bat. He said the attacker hit one of his senior aides on the head with a metal bat. The culprit also hit the intern in the side with a baseball bat on his first day at the company.

Connolly said in a statement earlier Monday that two of his aides were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and that Fairfax Police had arrested the man.

The suspect identified by the U.S. Capitol Police is Xuan Kha Trang Pham, 49, a Fairfax resident who has been charged with one count of aggravated bodily harm and one count of serious bodily injury, USCP said. .

“It is not clear at this time what the suspect’s motives were,” the USCP said in a statement. “As far as we know at this time, investigators have no information that the suspect was known to USCP.”

The attackers, who Connolly said he didn’t know were voters in his constituency, caused extensive damage to the office, including smashing glass in a conference room and smashing a computer en route.

“He was in an uncontrollable rage,” Connolly said in a telephone interview with CNN.

Connolly told CNN that he was cutting the tape at the food bank when the perpetrator drove to his office and entered the building. He estimated it took about five minutes for police to respond to an emergency call for help.

The attack comes amid a series of attacks in recent months on parliamentarians, their staff and their families.

In March, a staff member of Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was stabbed to death in Washington, DC. In February, a man assaulted Minnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig in an elevator at an apartment building also in Washington. In October, a man beat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer at her San Francisco home and hospitalized her.

This story has been updated with additional developments.