Insanity Pleas Accepted For Man Who Attacked Connolly Staffers: Report

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — A 50-year-old Chantilly man pleaded not guilty for reasons of insanity four times in court on Monday in connection with the May 15, 2023 attack on U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly's office in Fairfax City, according to news reports.

Xuan-Kha Tran Pham is accused of attacking two of Connolly's staffers with a baseball bat, following an incident earlier in the day when he chased a woman with a bat in Chantilly, according to court records.

Pham entered his plea on two counts of malicious wounding, one count of assault and battery, and one count of property destruction, connected to the neighborhood attack, according to NBC Washington.

The judge accepted Pham's plea, adding that two doctors who had examined the suspect determined that he was insane at the time of the attacks, according to News4 Washington's report.

Dawn Butorac, Phan's attorney, told News4 that her client had been suffering from serious mental health issues since the 1990s. At the time of the attacks, he was not properly medicated.

Since his arrest, Pham has primarily been held in a state psychiatric hospital, NBC Washington reported.

On Monday, Connolly released the following statement regarding the case:

“It has been over a year since Mr. Pham entered my office with the intent to harm me and my staff. As the healing process continues, I remain grateful for the community’s support and inspired by my staff’s incredible courage and recovery. Mr. Pham’s history of mental illness is well documented and lasts today. I pray he continues to receive the institutional treatment he needs so that he does not harm anyone else or himself. As a community, however, we must recognize the serious consequences of the inflammatory and violent rhetoric that is too frequently expressed by too many people. Hate speech and calls to violence are never acceptable and must always be condemned. Failure to be civil and show respect for our differences will only result in more incidents like we experienced in May 2023.”

A staffer and new intern of Rep. Gerry Connolly were attacked by Pham, who wielded a baseball bat in his City of Fairfax district office, police said. A motive for the assault remains unknown.

Related: Victim In Baseball Bat Attack On Congressional Staff Still Recovering

Connolly (D-Fairfax) said at the time that a man armed with a bat entered the 10680 Main St. office that morning asking for the congressman. The two staffers who were struck by the assailant were taken to an area hospital for treatment.

The congressman was not in the office at the time of the assaults. Connolly later told CNN he was at a food bank ribbon cutting when the attack happened.

Connolly called it "unconscionable and devastating" for an act of violence for office staff who assist constituents. The congressman represents a large share of Fairfax County in the 11th congressional district.

Pham's father, Hy Pham, told The Washington Post his son has schizophrenia and has been affected by mental illness dating back to his teen years. The father had been attempting to get mental health care for his son, who couldn't work because of his mental health state.

A neighbor told NBC Washington the father went to neighbors saying his son had mental health concerns but wouldn't harm people.