Armed man who ‘tried to stab’ Republican candidate Lee Zeldin overpowered

Members of the audience managed to disarm the man after a brief tussle

An apparently armed man was wrestled to the ground by bystanders as he confronted Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New Yorkgovernor, at a campaign event.

Mr Zeldin was not harmed in the incident, which occurred as he was speaking outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Fairport on Thursday night.

“Someone tried to stab me on stage during this evening’s rally, but fortunately, I was able to grab his wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him,” the Republican representative said on Twitter, thanking people for reaching out.

Mr Zeldin was addressing a crowd when he was interrupted by an audience member who walked up close to him and said, “Okay, you’re done”, according to a video of the incident.

The man had a pointed weapon with him, an onlooker in the video is heard saying, and dragged Mr Zeldin to the ground before being subdued by several other men. The members of the audience managed to disarm the man after a brief tussle until authorities arrived and detained the attacker.

He has been identified as David Jackbonis, 43, NBC News reported.

The motive of the attack isn’t clear yet and the man is being questioned with charges yet to be filed.

Mr Zeldin was on his “Unite to Fire Hochul” bus tour stop in Perinton, New York.

“Congressman Zeldin, Alison Esposito and all members of Team Zeldin are safe following tonight’s attack,” Katie Vincentz, spokesperson for Mr Zeldin‘s campaign said in a statement.

“Far more must be done to make New York safe again. This is very much getting out of hand in this state. Unfortunately, Congressman Zeldin is just the latest New Yorker whose life has been affected by the out of control crime and violence in New York.

This needs to stop! Thankfully, we still have exceptional men and women in law enforcement answering the call to protect our streets.”