FILE – In this Dec. 12, 2012 file photo, Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis. right, accompanied by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.N.C., center, and others, gestures as he speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Duffy’s office said in an email Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, that the Republican was walking toward the Capitol to vote on legislation when someone he didn’t know began screaming at him and grabbed his arm.The office said Duffy was not harmed but reported the incident to police as required by U.S. House security procedures. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A stranger screamed at and grabbed U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, who has been a vocal advocate for delaying the rollout of the federal health care law, as he walked to the Capitol to vote on legislation, his office said Thursday. He wasn’t harmed.
The Wisconsin Republican’s office said in an email that he reported the incident to police as required by U.S. House security procedures but asked for no further action and has no comment on what happened.
Duffy’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a message asking whether the incident was related to the government shutdown.
A professional lumberjack who appeared on MTV’s “The Real World” in the 1990s, Duffy voted for legislation that would have avoided a government shutdown but halted the implementation of the federal health care law. When some GOP leaders appeared resigned to the law going into effect, Duffy tweeted that they “refuse to fight. Wave white flag and surrender.”
He has since said that he did not want the federal government to close but he felt a compromise wasn’t in the nation’s long-term interest.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed the agency was investigating an assault on a member of Congress but did not provide details.
Duffy, who was first elected in 2010, represents a sprawling district that covers mostly rural northwestern Wisconsin. He is married to Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is a “Real World” cast member from a different season.
