{"id":32687,"date":"2023-06-07T20:28:19","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T20:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/06\/07\/cop-who-cut-short-attack-on-congressmans-office-is-marine-veteran\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:49:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:49:02","slug":"cop-who-cut-short-attack-on-congressmans-office-is-marine-veteran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/home\/middle-column\/2023\/06\/07\/cop-who-cut-short-attack-on-congressmans-office-is-marine-veteran\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop who cut short attack on congressman\u2019s office is a Marine veteran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The police officer who responded to an attack May 15 at a congressman\u2019s office in Virginia \u2015 in which a man allegedly hit two staffers with a baseball bat \u2015 was a Marine veteran with multiple deployments under his belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Marine Staff Sgt. James Lewis, a master police officer with the City of Fairfax Police Department, was patrolling a Fairfax, Virginia, neighborhood when he heard over his radio about an incident at the nearby office of Rep. Gerry Connolly<\/a>, D-Virginia, he said in an emailed response to questions from Marine Corps Times on May 26. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lewis determined that he was only a few blocks away from the office. So he put his lights and sirens on, and with the help of citizens on the scene, he was able to find the exact office quickly, he told Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to get to the scene safely, find the threat, and stop the threat,\u201d he recalled thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he opened the office door, Lewis heard \u201ccomplete silence,\u201d he wrote in the statement to Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\t