A person accused of attacking New York GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin throughout a latest marketing campaign rally informed investigators he’d been consuming that day and didn’t know who the congressman was, authorities stated as the person was arrested on a federal assault cost Saturday.
David Jakubonis, 43, made an preliminary court docket look Saturday earlier than a federal Justice of the Peace decide in Rochester, New York, on a single depend of assaulting a member of Congress with a harmful weapon. The cost carries a possible most penalty of 10 years in jail.
He was ordered held till a bail listening to in federal court docket Wednesday. Prosecutors stated he ought to stay detained as a flight danger and is harmful, in response to a court docket submitting. Assistant federal public defender Steven Slawinski, representing Jakubonis, stated in an e mail to The Related Press that he deliberate to ask the decide to launch Jakubonis from custody.
Jakubonis was arraigned Friday on a separate state cost of tried assault within the second diploma and was launched by an area decide. That prompted criticism from Zeldin and different Republicans who held it up for example of the necessity to reform New York’s bail legal guidelines, one thing Zeldin has known as on Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to toughen.
A 2019 bail reform legislation in New York eradicated pretrial incarceration for folks accused of most nonviolent offenses. The legislation offers judges the choice to set bail in almost all instances involving violent felonies, nevertheless it has exceptions for sure tried felonies like tried assault.
The federal felony grievance filed Saturday alleged Jakubonis, an Iraq Conflict veteran, informed investigators he was consuming whiskey on Thursday earlier than he went onstage as Zeldin addressed a Veterans of International Wars publish within the city of Perinton to ask the speaker if he was disrespecting veterans.
Jakubonis “didn't know who the speaker was or that the speaker was a political individual,” in response to the grievance. The grievance added that when Jakubonis watched video of Thursday night’s incident he informed investigators he “should have checked out” and that what was depicted within the video was disgusting.
In accordance with video of the assault, Jakubonis raised his arm towards Zeldin as he held a keychain with two sharp factors. The congressman from Lengthy Island then grabbed Jakubonis’ wrist and the 2 tussled to the bottom as others jumped in to assist. Zeldin, who additionally served within the army, suffered a minor scrape.
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