Rep. Angie Craig Uses Hot Coffee to Defend Herself from Assailant in D.C. Apartment Building

The attacker reportedly entered an elevator with Rep. Craig and began doing pushups on the floor before punching her in the chin and grabbing her neck

Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

Democratic Rep. Angie Craig "suffered bruising but is otherwise physically okay" after being attacked in the elevator of her Washington, D.C. apartment building, her chief of staff said Thursday.

In a statement, chief of staff Nick Coe wrote: "This morning around 7:15 a.m., Rep. Craig was assaulted in the elevator of her apartment building in Washington DC. Rep. Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay."

"Rep. Craig called 911 and the assailant fled the scene of the assault," the statement continued. "There is no evidence that the incident was politically motivated. Rep. Craig is grateful to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for their quick response and asks for privacy at this time."

Craig, a U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 2nd District, is a mother to four boys with her wife, Cheryl.

She came to Congress in 2018 following a tight race with Republican Jason Lewis, becoming the first openly LGBT member of Congress from Minnesota.

NBC News and The Washington Post obtained a Metropolitan Police Department report with further details of the attack, which said the suspect was "acting erratic as if he was under the influence of an unknown substance" in Craig's apartment lobby.

NBC News reports that the report details how the suspect entered the elevator with the lawmaker and started doing pushups before he "punched her on the chin area of her face, and later grabbed her neck," after which time she told police she threw a cup of hot coffee on him, and he escaped the area.

Per NBC News, the U.S. Capitol Police has said it is investigating the attack, but echoed Craig's spokesman in saying "there is no indication that the congresswoman was targeted because of her position."

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While there is no evidence that Craig's assault was politically motivated, it comes as members of Congress face an increasing number of threats just months after an attack on Democrat Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, who was beaten by a man wielding a hammer in his San Francisco home in October.

U.S. Capitol Police revealed that Nancy was in Washington, D.C. at the time of the overnight assault, in which the intruder "confronted the speaker's husband" and shouted, "Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?" per CNN sources. They then attempted to tie Paul up "until Nancy got home," and was still "waiting for Nancy" when police arrived, sources said.