Dave Chappelle’s alleged attacker, Isaiah Lee, has been charged with assault

The spectator who tackled Dave Chappelle on stage while armed with a bladed firearm was identified on Wednesday when he was booked for assault with a deadly weapon.

Isaiah Lee, 23, of Los Angeles, has been charged with the 48-year-old comedian’s shocking on-camera assault at Tuesday night’s show at the Hollywood Bowl, the LAPD said.

LAPD spokeswoman Lizeth Lomeli confirmed that he was carrying a replica handgun with a blade.

Lee was booked just after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and being held on $30,000 bail, records show.

He was listed as 5 feet 10 inches tall and only 140 pounds, and an address given for him matched that of an LA homeless shelter.

He was also hospitalized after security forces pounced on him. Video showed his arm twisted and apparently snapped as he was booed while being led to an ambulance strapped to an upright stretcher.

Lee also appeared to have a bloated, bloody right eye as well as a bloody nose as he was wheeled out in flames in a t-shirt that read “Hollywood,” similar to skateboard magazine Thrasher’s logo.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” shouted one member of the crowd, while another yelled, “They’re beating your ass!”

Isaiah Lee can be seen in photos on social media.
Isaiah Lee can be seen in photos on social media.
ellis kaplan

The footage also showed Chappelle joking about how he was “stomping backstage” after the attack.

Lee was caught in shocking video footage as he suddenly charged at Chappelle from the right, temporarily knocking him down with a flying tackle. The stage intruder then sped off, pursued by security guards, as a bystander yelled, “Break his ass!”

Security “rushed out and started punching and kicking Chapelle’s attackers,” tweeted Buzzfeed News reporter Brianna Sacks, who was attending the Netflix Is A Joke festival gig.

Dave Chappelle's attacker is swollen, injured and tied to a stretcher as he is rushed to hospital after his attack on the comedian, which Chappelle was performing as part of his Netflix festival, when a man came out of the audience and threw him to the ground .
Isaiah Lee has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Roger / BACKGROUND

“Chapelle continued while the guy got punched in the back,” she said.

“That comedian had literally just said He’s more secure now because of all the uproar from his jokes about the trans community,” she said, explaining why Chappelle’s first joke after the attacker was that it must be “a trans man.”

Chappelle was comforted on stage by Chris Rock, who jokingly referred to his own Stage Attack at the Oscarsinquiringly, “Was that Will Smith?”

The attacker is seen with bruises all over his face and a swollen eye as he was transported to the ambulance.
Isaiah Lee was taken to hospital after security forces pounced on him.
Roger / BACKGROUND

Smith’s slap in the face — and the heightened threat felt by comedians — was also part of Chappelle’s set of his own fear, Sacks said.

“What’s really surreal about it is that Chapelle has been talking about Chris Rock and the slap in the face/new reality that comedians are facing/more secure now that he and his wife are worried about him,” she said.

“He made a whole lot about a madman coming to his house and chasing him in his car,” she said.

The attacker was quickly rushed and knocked out by people in the star-filled audience.
Isaiah Lee was booked for assault.
Roger / BACKGROUND

Hollywood star Jamie Foxx, 54, was one of the first to storm the stage.

“Whenever you’re in trouble, Jamie Foxx shows up in a sheriff’s hat,” Chappelle quipped about the actor’s then-unusual hat.

It was unclear if Lee had attempted to use the purported weapon, which can eject a knife blade “if you discharge it properly”. police told NBC Los Angeles.

Isaiah Lee had been carrying a replica handgun with a blade inside when he attacked Dave Chappelle.
Isaiah Lee was allegedly carrying a replica pistol with a blade inside when he attacked Dave Chappelle.
Twitter / @abazar

It was also unclear how he’d managed to get it into the venue, forcing viewers to go through metal detectors and even having a cell phone ban on the show.

Still, several bystander videos surfaced even though all phones were supposed to be kept in specially designed pouches, NBC noted.

Viewers credited Chapelle’s team with stopping the attack and called the venue’s security “nonexistent”.

Isaiah Lee stormed the stage at the Netflix Is A Joke festival just after Dave Chappelle addressed how he needed to improve security.
Isaiah Lee allegedly stormed the stage at the Netflix Is A Joke festival shortly after Dave Chappelle addressed how he needed to step up security.
Getty Images for Netflix

“It seemed like Dave’s entourage, security and crew were handling the situation,” Jed Simon told The Post.

Simon said Chapelle performed again even as security guards were still fighting the assailant on stage.

“When Dave got back to the mic he kept saying, ‘Get off the stage,’ because the attacker was still on the stage and was being held down by 20 people,” said Simon.

The suspect is arrested after the attack on the stage.
The suspect is arrested after the attack on the stage.
DALE EARNHARD via REUTERS

Another viewer, Geoff Witt, told The Post there was “shock and anger” at the attacker.

“It was just a stupid person trying to do something stupid,” he told the Post. “Somehow he got past the initial security.”

https://nypost.com/2022/05/04/dave-chappelle-attacker-isaiah-lee-23-booked-for-felony-assault/ Dave Chappelle’s alleged attacker, Isaiah Lee, has been charged with assault

Dais Johnston

Dais Johnston is a USTimeToday U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. He has covered climate change extensively, as well as healthcare and crime. Dais Johnston joined USTimeToday in 2023 from the Daily Express and previously worked for Chemist and Druggist and the Jewish Chronicle. He is a graduate of Cambridge University. Languages: English. You can get in touch with me by emailing dais@ustimetoday.com.

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