BREAKING: Republican rep reveals his staffer was assaulted by armed gunman after Congressional Baseball Game

A GOP staffer for Representative Brad Finstad (R-MN) was attacked by two men, one armed, following the annual Congressional Baseball Game that took place on Wednesday evening. 

According to the Daily Mail, the staffer was returning to his apartment building in the Navy Yard district of Washington DC after the game when two men pushed him to the ground. One of the assailants was carrying a gun, but the young man was able to escape with cuts and bruises before calling the police. 

"Following Wednesday's Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, one of my staffers was attacked outside of his residence by an armed gunman," Rep. Finstad said in a statement. "Thankfully, he will be able to make a full recovery and the extent of his physical injuries was minor. I thank the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for their quick response and their attention to this incident."

"In Washington, DC, and cities across the country, anti-police, soft-on-crime policies have created lawless societies that endanger the public and empower criminal behavior," he continued. "It's time we started treating criminals like criminals and bring back commonsense policies that imprison career criminals, keep the public safe, and allow our police officers to adequately protect our communities and keep violent criminals off the streets."

This is the third instance where a congressional staff member has been assaulted in the DC area. In May, two staffers for Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) were attacked at their Fairfax office by a man wielding a metal baseball bat. The suspect, 49-year-old Xuan Kha Tran Pham, was charged with aggravated malicious wounding. 

In March, Phillip Todd, a member of Senator Rand Paul's (R-KY) staff was stabbed in broad daylight on the 1300 block of H St, not far from the capital. The alleged attacker Glynn Neal had just completed a 12-year and four-month prison sentence the day prior. He was charged with an Assault with intent to Kill.  

According to the Washington DC Metro Police Department, as of June 16, overall crime is up 28 percent in 2023. Violent crime is up 21 percent in the same time period last year. In 2022 there were 3,830 violent crime instances for the entire year, while six months into 2023 there have been 2,128 instances.