Adam Kinzinger Suffered from PTSD after Saving a Woman from Being Killed by Her Boyfriend: ‘Utterly Changed My Life’

Former US Rep. Adam Kinzinger reflects on the pivotal moment that helped shape his life and career.

In the new documentary The last Republican — which opened Friday at the Film Forum in New York — Kinzinger, 46, who served as a U.S. representative in Illinois from 2011 to 2023, opens up about the development of his career and the violent encounter in 2006 that changed the trajectory of his life. .

Just back from pilot training, Kinzinger was leaving a German restaurant in Milwaukee at 12:26 a.m. when he encountered a gruesome sight. “I was walking to my car when I heard a commotion, and this girl was running towards me, holding her throat, bleeding,” he recalls in the documentary.

Adam Kinzinger in ‘The Last Republican’.

Joshua Salzman

Kinzinger had only a split second to decide whether to intervene and risk his own life — a decision that, he admits, did not come easily. “They say that in a crisis, half of people run away, 40 percent freeze, and 10 percent act. I felt every one of those emotions,” he says. “If someone had whispered ‘Run’ to me, I would have run.”

In the end, his conscience wouldn’t let him go. “Two thoughts immediately crossed my mind. The first was: ‘If I act, I will die.’ Another was: ‘If I watch this woman die and do nothing, I won’t be able to live with myself for the rest of my life.’ ”

Kinzinger engaged in a tense struggle with the attacker, which he describes as a “close fight”.

“I had his hand with the knife and I remember consciously feeling the hand with the knife trying to stab me,” he says. “Now it’s not a matter of pride, it’s a matter of life to win.”

After successfully pinning the man to the ground and waiting for the police to arrive, Kinzinger was able to leave, but it took him months to process what happened. “I [had] blood on me. The shirt that was all bloody, I couldn’t bring myself to wash it for some reason,” he says. “It was left in the corner of my room, and about two or three months later I started to realize that I had PTSD because of it… That moment on that street in Milwaukee completely changed my life.”

Adam Kinzinger.

Joshua Salzman

While he doesn’t regret his decision to intervene, Kinzinger admits he’s not sure he would make the same decision today. “When you make the decision to give your life for a stranger, I mean, how can that not change you?” he says, getting emotional. “I never want to do it again and I hope so – if it ever happened to me again, I’m not sure I’d make the same decision.”

Despite his current ambivalence, the incident left a lasting impression on him. “Do I think I would be sitting here today talking about what happened in my congressional career or even having a congressional career without the incident in Milwaukee? Probably not.”

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Since that night, Kinzinger’s life has changed a lot. He served in Congress for more than a decade before his political career came to an abrupt end in 2023, after he became one of two Republican representatives who voted to establish a committee to investigate the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He also served on the committee , where he denounced former President Donald Trump’s alleged involvement.

“I don’t believe what I did was brave,” Kinzinger says of his isolation within the GOP. “I just think I’m surrounded by cowards.”

Adam Kinzinger

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Drawing a parallel between the sting and his political career, Kinzinger, now a senior political commentator for CNN, says, “What can you say about it other than it’s an honor to be able to act? Yet there is this creeping cynicism after things like the January 6 attack. Why would you try to defend these people? They hate you.”

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Looking ahead, Kinzinger says he’s focused on “fighting that cynicism,” adding, “I don’t want the second half of my life to be unwilling to put my life on the line for people… Even MAGA people — maybe especially them because they need inspiration or something they’re not getting.”

“They are being lied to and abused,” he continues. “That’s the struggle of the second part of my life: making sure I can keep my head above water and find that again — find that inspiration again.”

The last Republican it’s currently playing at the Film Forum in New York before rolling out to other cities.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education