A staffer working for Rand Paul narrowly survived a knife attack in broad daylight on Saturday by a convicted pimp released from prison a day earlier after serving a 12 year, 4 month sentence.
“This past weekend a member of my staff was brutally attacked in broad daylight in Washington DC. I ask you to join Kelley [Paul’s wife, ed.] and me in praying for a speedy and complete recovery, and thanking the first responders, hospital staff, and police for their diligent actions,” Paul said in a statement Monday.
“We are relieved to hear the suspect has been arrested. At this time we would ask for privacy so everyone can focus on healing and recovery,” the senator added.
The staffer was stabbed repeatedly in the head and chest area during the assault, suffering a punctured lung and a laceration to his left ear.
The suspect, 42-year-old Glynn Neal, was reportedly released on parole on Friday, after serving a long sentence for “compelling an individual to live a life of prostitution without his or her consent” and “threat to kidnap to injure a person.”
The DC Metropolitan Police Department confirmed Monday that the suspect, a DC resident, had been arrested, classifying the attack as an “assault with intent to kill (knife) offense.”
The attack was said to have taken place at 1300 Block of H Street, about 2.5 km from the Capitol complex.
It’s unknown whether the attack was politically motivated. Washington, DC has one of the highest per capita crime rates in the United States.
At the same time, Paul is no stranger to violence and threats, including a 2017 assault by a neighbor, and an attack by an angry mob near the White House during the Black Lives Matter protests in Washington in the summer of 2020. In 2021, the FBI launched an investigation after the lawmaker found a package filled with a white powder and a picture of Paul in bandages and a firearm pointed to his head, signed “I’ll finish what your neighbor started you mother******.”
Paul has amassed a broad array of political enemies during his 13-year stint in the Senate, including over his outspoken criticism of US foreign policy, and for repeatedly challenging National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci on issues related to the pandemic. Most recently, Paul picked a fight with the national security state by calling for an end to excessive government secrecy and overclassification.