Australian MP Helen Haines Has Both Legs Amputated After Targeted Car Ramming; Suspect Faces Court

Australian independent MP Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after a targeted car-ramming attack outside her electoral office in Wangaratta, Victoria, in one of the most shocking acts of political violence in the country's recent history. According to the ABC, Haines, 65, was struck twice by a vehicle on Monday afternoon as she loaded her car outside her office. The driver allegedly made a U-turn to position himself, hit her, then reversed and struck her again, pinning her between two cars. She was airlifted to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, where surgeons amputated her left leg and worked for days to save her right before ultimately amputating it as well on Wednesday. The 43-year-old suspect, identified by local media as environmental activist Brendan Nugent of nearby Tarrawingee, was detained at the scene by bystanders — including a local barber who pulled him from the car and took a knife from his pocket — and has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and the federal offence of causing harm to a public official, the BBC reports. He appeared in the Wangaratta Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where his lawyer raised mental health concerns and a rare neurological condition; he did not apply for bail. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack, telling ABC Radio there is no place for political violence in a democracy, according to the BBC. The investigation is being led by Victoria Police with the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO, though officials say it appears to be an isolated incident. Haines' husband Phil told reporters outside the hospital that his wife is alive and stable, but faces a long and difficult recovery.

Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons