Congressman Grace Meng was attacked and robbed as she walked to her Capitol Hill home on Tuesday night, her office confirmed on Wednesday, politico.com reported.
Meng was walking back home to her DC apartment after having dinner at a restaurant when she was hit in the back of the head near Sixth St. and Pennsylvania Avenue, news reports said. Before fleeing, the mugger reportedly snatched her Gucci handbag,The New York Daily News reported.
Meng was admitted to George Washington University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, DC police said. She suffered a bruise on her chin and underwent a CAT scan at the hospital.
"While this was a frightening ordeal, I fortunately was not seriously injured. Obviously things could have been much worse. I thank the U.S. Capitol Police... for responding quickly and professionally," Meng said in a statement.
Meng is an Asian-American lawyer who represents New York's 6th congressional district in Queens. Previously she served as a member of the New York State Assembly representing the 22nd assembly in Flushing, Queens. She was inaugurated on January 3, 2013, and co-formed the Bipartisan Freshman Caucus, according to her web site.
Jimmy Meng, Grace's father, was to New York's 22nd assembly district in 2004, becoming the first Asian American to be elected to the legislature in New York State history. However, he only served one term, deciding not to run for re-election in 2006 after a scandal election featued irregularities in his first campaign, as reported by The Queens Times Ledger.
