A candidate for state representative for Illinois’ 4th district was attacked Sunday night by two people putting up signs for his opponent at his campaign offices. NBC 5’s Charlie Wojciechowski reports.
A candidate for state representative claims he was attacked at his campaign headquarters Sunday after a violent confrontation with his opponent’s supporters.
It was shortly before 9 p.m. when 4th district challenger Bob Zwolinski says he pulled up to his offices in the 800 block of North Ashland Avenue to see a man and a woman from the campaign of incumbent Cynthia Soto stapling posters to the building he’s rented.
When the pair was asked to stop, Zwolinski said that is when the conversation took an ugly turn. He recalled being kicked, choked, and hit on the head with a beer bottle.
Bloody and beaten, Zwolinski said at one point the woman took the staple gun she had been using to plaster the signage on his building to put a staple into his head.
“I’ve played rugby for 12 years of my life and I’ve never seen something like [this] before,” Zwolinski said.
Zwolinski’s girlfriend, who also works on his campaign, was in the car at the time.
“The female approached the car and yanked open the door and threatened me to get out of the car with a staple gun,” she said.
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It was a passerby that called 911 after seeing the events unfold.
Zwolinski filed a police report after the attack, but Chicago police say a 26-year-old man filed a counter report, claiming the candidate had ripped their signs down and attacked first. They are accusations Zwolinski denies.
A representative for the campaign of Cynthia Soto did not immediately respond to NBC 5’s request for comment.
