An assailant carrying a baseball bat entered a US congressman's office and attacked two of his staff members on Monday. The motive was not immediately known, but the incident comes as the polarised US struggles with an increase in political violence. Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia said the attacker had asked for him by name. "This morning, an individual entered my district office armed with a baseball bat and asked for me before committing an act of violence against two members of my staff," Mr Connolly <a href="https://twitter.com/GerryConnolly/status/1658167569453404161" target="_blank">wrote</a> in a statement. "Right now, our focus is on ensuring they are receiving the care they need." Mr Connolly said that the unidentified attacked was now in custody and his staff members were receiving care in hospital. "The thought that someone would take advantage of my staff's accessibility to commit an act of violence is unconscionable and devastating," he said. Figures from the US Capitol Police show that threats made against politicians have drastically increased in the past five years, with almost 10,000 investigated in 2021. A man <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2022/12/15/paul-pelosi-attack-man-told-police-of-evil-in-washington/" target="_blank">swayed by far-right conspiracy theories</a> broke into the house of then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi and <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2022/10/31/the-assault-on-paul-pelosi-is-only-a-part-of-the-mayhem-ahead-of-the-us-midterms/" target="_blank">violently attacked her husband Paul Pelosi</a> in October last year. On January 6, 2021, a mob stormed the US Capitol after then-president <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/donald-trump/" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> told his supporters to "fight like hell" and refused to admit he lost the election.