Staffers attacked inside Virginia congressman's office
Two staffers were attacked on Monday morning inside the Fairfax, Virginia, office of Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.).
Police said the suspect, Xuan Kha Tran Pham, 49, of Fairfax, is facing charges of one count of felony aggravated malicious wounding and one count of malicious wounding. No motive has been revealed, and the suspect is being held without bond.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Connolly's outreach director and an intern were harmed in the attack, with both treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect's father said his son struggled with mental illness and he was trying to get him mental health care, the Post reported. The New York Times found that in 2022, Pham filed a federal lawsuit against the CIA and claimed he was imprisoned for decades by the agency and being "brutally tortured" with a "degenerative disability" from the "fourth dimension."
In the last several years, there has been a rise in the number of threats made against members of Congress. The Capitol Police said in 2017, there were fewer than 4,000 threats, and in 2022, more than 7,500 threats were reported. Of those 7,500 cases, the Capitol Police's Threat Assessment Section decided 313 were serious threats, and prosecutors filed charges in just 22 instances, the Post reported.
-
Health insurance: Premiums soar as ACA subsidies endFeature 1.4 million people have dropped coverage
-
Anthropic: AI triggers the ‘SaaSpocalypse’Feature A grim reaper for software services?
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC head
Speed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
