Minnesota congresswoman assaulted at Washington apartment

By The Associated Press

FILE - Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., speaks during news conference on Capitol Hill on June 24, 2020, in Washington. Craig and GOP challenger Tyler Kistner met for their only full debate of the campaign at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, sponsored by the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce. Their race in the swing suburban 2nd District is considered the GOP's best chance to flip a congressional seat in Minnesota. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her Washington apartment building on Thursday, suffering bruises while escaping serious injury in an attack that did not appear to be politically motivated, her chief of staff said.

Craig was assaulted in the elevator at about 7:15 a.m., called 911 and the assailant fled, Nick Coe said in a statement.

“Rep. Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” he added. “There is no evidence that the incident was politically motivated.”

The attack followed an assault on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco home in October by a man who told police his motive was political and that his intended target was the speaker.

Members of Congress have faced a sharp rise in threats since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Capitol Police investigated nearly 10,000 threats to members last year, more than twice the number from four years earlier.

Craig won a third term in November in the suburban-to-rural 2nd District south of Minneapolis and St. Paul in one of the most expensive House races in the country, frustrating the GOP’s best hope of flipping a Minnesota seat in an election that gave Republicans a narrow House majority.

Coe said Craig is grateful for the quick response from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department and has asked for privacy.