It’s too early to say definitely. But initial indications suggest the assailant in the bat attack on Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA) office staff is a person who suffers from schizophrenia and who stopped taking his medication months ago and has been in a downward spiral since. Two staffers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after being struck with a metal bat.
Connolly suggested mental illness was at the root of the attack rather than a specific grievance or political motivation. CNN interviewed accused assailant Xuan Kha Tran Pham’s father whose account mirrored Connolly’s. “He is in a really bad condition,” said the father. “All day and all night, he mumbles … he talks and looks like he talks with someone in his brain, and suddenly, he is shouting angrily.”
