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A 49-year-old Virginia man charged with attacking two employees with a metal baseball bat in the office of Rep. Jerry Connolly declined to appear in court on Tuesday.
In a statement Monday, the US Capitol Police said Fairfax County resident Xuan Ka Trang Pham had been identified as a suspect in the attack. Police said Connolly was not in his office at the time.
Fairfax City Police said one officer suffered minor injuries and is being treated. Pham was arrested within five minutes of receiving an emergency call from police and is being held without bail at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, police said.
From prison, Pham refused to appear for a videoconference arraignment before County General District Judge Susan Ahman.
Connolly’s chief of staff, Jamie Smith, said Pham hit two employees with a metal bat, damaged parts of the office and shattered glass and computers.
Pham was charged with four counts, three felonies and one misdemeanor. The felonies were 1 count of aggravated serious injury, 1 count of serious bodily injury, and 1 count of property damage. He was also charged with one hate crime and one misdemeanor for remarks Pham allegedly made to a woman in her car minutes before Connolly’s staff were attacked. The Associated Press reported that Fairfax County police asked the woman if she was white before hitting her windshield with a bat and fleeing.
Pham will be accompanied by a court-appointed attorney, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 17 at 2:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, lawmakers from all walks of life, including Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, visited Connolly to express their sympathy and support.
Connolly told NBC News Tuesday morning that remaining staff had to remove “blood and glass” from the raid. He said Congress should probably provide cleaning services after such attacks.
“It just seems to my staff…it only adds to the trauma the next morning when this person was rampaging cleaning blood and glass,” Connolly said. “I hope they don’t have to bear that burden somehow.”
Connolly said his wife also joined the cleaning staff. “I was going to do that, but I had to come here. But I wanted to make it easier for the staff if possible,” he added.
One of the victims of the attack was an intern on her first day at the company. It is unknown who the other injured staff member is. Connolly later told reporters at the Capitol that he had visited two staff members at the hospital and that they had both been released.
In response to the attack, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s press secretary, Mark Bednar, a California Republican, said in a statement on Tuesday that the speaker “made clear the expectation that politics must be separated from security, and that the House of Representatives I gave the sergeant the authority,” he said. If deemed necessary, we will work with the Capitol Police to equip all members of Congress with weapons to protect them. “
McCarthy told NBC News on Tuesday that he spoke with Connolly on Monday night. Asked if he had any concerns about lawmakers’ safety, McCarthy said, “I’ve spoken to lawmakers about that as well, especially at the precinct office.”
“I mean, it’s always fear,” McCarthy said. “I know our offices have had to change, our district offices have had to change. We’ve put more money into places where we can protect and monitor them, but it needs to be made visible to everyone, and we’ll continue to follow suit.”
Mr. Pham sued the CIA last year for being “wrongfully imprisoned.” [him] In a lower, physics-based perspective,” he claimed, “from the fourth dimension… brutally tortured.”
The complaint, which seeks $29 million in damages, is consistent with conspiracy theorists’ beliefs that they are being “gang-stalked,” that is, surreptitiously monitored and subjected to psychological torture, using non-existent technology. ing. Pham asked to be “cured” by an unstated “digital technology.” The CIA moved to dismiss the trial last month. Pham is representing the case.
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