Reply to Knife-wielding assailant tries to stab NY gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ok, so we have problems - anyone care to share the GOP’s plans to deal with them?[/quote]

I'll bite.

The first problem was that there was an attack to begin with.  The political rhetoric today hasn't helped.  But, this man is clearly troubled.  He needs help.  But, since he used a knife instead of a gun, his mental health issues don't seem to matter.  He should have been evaluated as soon as he was arrested.  But, he wasn't.

The second problem... and the bigger one in my opinion.... is the fact that he was free to walk the streets hours after the attack.  Once again, he used a knife instead of a gun.  If he had threatened him with a gun, would he still be locked up under NY law?  Is a knife any less lethal than a gun?  We have people who trespassed on the Capital on J6, hurt nobody, did no damage, and they are STILL being detained pre-trial.  But, this guy threatened a sitting Congressman and is free within hours.  Does that seem remotely right?  Fortunately, the feds have stepped in, taken him into custody, and slapped federal charges on him.  Maybe he'll get the help he needs now.

The desire for some of our large, progressive cities to want to swing the pendulum so far that they are now advocates for criminals instead of the victims is a huge problem.  And, NYC is not alone in this.  [/quote]

Well said.[/quote]
1. He did not have a knife.

2. It’s not clear that he was actually trying to do anything to hurt Zeldin, as opposed to just taking the microphone from him.

3. It was Zeldin’s own campaign chair who let the guy walk out.[/quote]

He had brass knuckles that had two sharpened ends, a self-defense weapon. He stated “you are done” and went for Zeldin’s throat. [/quote]

Who are you to question Zeldin's campaign co-chair who didn't think this amounted to a 1st degree assault?
[/quote]

I don’t understand what you are going for here. Federal charges were filed. As it should be. Laws were changed in 2021. And those laws presented a challenge to the local DA, who’s job it is, is to make sure charges stick. She could have taken the risk, sure. It’s my belief that if the laws had not changed, the state could have assigned bail and made the charge stick. My goal is to ensure that people like this guy are not out on the street, where they could just as easily attack a child. The law change made it more dangerous for the average individual.

[/quote]

Plenty of New York State prosecutors disagree with you:

https://nypost.com/2022/07/22/lee-zeldin-attacker-should-receive-more-serious-charge-experts/

[quote]But former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Bederow said the details in the felony complaint against Jakubonis — who’s accused of swinging “a set of self-defense knuckles which had two sharp pointed ends” at Zeldin’s throat after threatening, “You’re done” — make a case for attempted first-degree assault[/quote]
...

[quote]Another former Manhattan prosecutor, Jeremy Saland, also said, “I think that this would constitute attempted assault in the first degree.”[/quote]
...

[quote]Bederow called the caught-on-camera attack on Zeldin “an attempted assassination,” adding: “If they wanted to be really aggressive, they could have charged attempted murder.”[/quote]

Zeldin's running mate and former police officer Alison Esposito:

[quote]“I am not certain that assault two is the appropriate crime when you’re taking a dagger and attempting to stab a sitting United States congressman in the neck.[/quote]

[/quote]

They can disagree all they want but this is the law as it stands in NY:

Assault in the First Degree
A “Class B Violent Felony” Assault in the First Degree involves the requisite intent of the other two degrees of Assault, [b]except that the “intent to cause serious physical injury” to the person of another is carried-out with the use of a “deadly weapon or dangerous instrument”. For example if an individual stabbed another person in the chest with a knife thereby causing a punctured lung, this would meet the elements of Assault in the First Degree.[/b]

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