SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE:
A Castro Valley man shouting profanities about President Trump attacked a Republican congressional candidate who was working an election booth at a town festival, threatening him and trying to stab him with a switchblade, authorities and the candidate said Tuesday.
Farzad Vincent Fazeli, 35, was jailed after the alleged Sunday attack on Rudy Peters at the Castro Valley Fall Festival. Alameda County prosecutors charged Fazeli on Tuesday with a felony count of making criminal threats and misdemeanor counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon and possessing a switchblade.
No one was seriously injured. In an interview, Peters said he had never been concerned about his safety prior to Sunday, though his wife has often warned him to be careful.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “People are just polarized right now, and this country’s divided and it’s just a mess. It shouldn’t be that way.”
Sheriff’s deputies responded at about 3:45 p.m. to a report of a possible knife attack at the festival on Castro Valley Boulevard. According to officials, witnesses told deputies that Fazeli approached Peters in an “aggressive manner” at his booth, and made “disparaging remarks” about the GOP and “elected officials.”
