Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) said Friday a member of his staff was attacked by an armed gunman outside his home, located blocks from the U.S. Capitol building.
In a statement, Finstad said the staffer experienced minor physical injuries and will be able to make a full recovery. The incident took place after the annual charitable Congressional Baseball Game.
“Following Wednesday’s Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, one of my staffers was attacked outside of his residence by an armed gunman,” 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.”
The Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the same statement, Finstad attacked crime laws in D.C. and other cities, which he claimed, “have created lawless societies that endanger the public and empower criminal behavior.”
He added: “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.”
Violent crime in the district has been on the rise in recent months. In a year-to-date data comparison, violent crime is up 21 percent in 2023, compared with violent crime data collected at the same point in 2022. Property crime is up 29 percent in 2023, and total crime is up 28 percent, in the same comparison.
In a year-end comparison, crime in D.C. was down slightly in 2022, compared with 2021 data. Violent crime was down 7 percent, property crime was down 3 percent, bringing total crime down 4 percent in 2022.