Rep. Steve Scalise, Aides Shot at Baseball Practice in Virginia
Gunman supposedly asked if Democrats or Republicans were on the field.
A gunman opened fire on the GOP baseball practice in Alexandria, VA. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and numerous aides were shot. From Fox News:
The shots were reported on East Monroe Street in Del Ray, Alexandria police said on Twitter at 7:30 a.m. The location was near a YMCA.
Scalise, 51, is the House majority whip. He has represented Louisiana’s First Congressional District since 2008 and chairs the House Republican Study Committee. He is married with two children. Scalise’s district includes New Orleans.
NBC News now reporting that everyone is in stable condition.
The Shooting
Alexandria Police Department Chief Michael Brown updated the media:
APD Chief Michael Brown updated media. 5 transported to local hospitals, including suspect. We will not ID victims or suspect right now. pic.twitter.com/pPYlqEjACM
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) June 14, 2017
WATCH: Video shows House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise taken away on stretcher and into helicopter following shooting at Virginia park. pic.twitter.com/naKRc3eoXK
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 14, 2017
U.S. Capitol Police shot the gunman, took him into custody, and transported him to the hospital. Fox News continued:
Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., told Fox News he left just before the shooting. As he walked to his car, a man asked DeSantis if it was Republicans or Democrats practicing. About three minutes the shooting began, DeSantis said.
The shooting began at 7:15 a.m. and lasted about 10 minutes, sources told Fox News.
“Behind third base, I see a rifle…I hear Steve Scalise over near 2nd base scream,” Brooks told CNN.
From the Associated Press:
Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said several other people also were hit, including two law enforcement officers. Brooks said that Scalise, 51, was down on the ground with what Brooks described as “a hip wound.”
Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., said Scalise was standing on second base when he was shot.
“I was looking right at him,” Bishop told Detroit radio station WWJ. “He was a sitting duck.”
Brooks said the Scalise “crawled into the outfield, leaving a trail of blood.”
“We started giving him the liquids, I put pressure on his wound in his hip,” Brooks said.
Statement from Scalise’s office:
Scalise Office statement pic.twitter.com/HsoijywAXy
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) June 14, 2017
The Shooter
The Washington Post has identified the gunman as James T. Hodgkinson from Belleville, IL:
Hodgkinson, 66, owns a home inspection business. His home inspection license expired in November 2016 and was not renewed, state records show.
Hodgkinson was charged in April 2006 with battery and aiding damage to a motor vehicle, according to online records in St. Clair County, Illinois. The charges were dismissed, records show.
(H/T to @galtsgirl for sending me this info)
Hodgkinson supported and volunteered on Sen. Bernie Sander’s presidential campaign. Sanders released this statement:
Sen. Bernie Sanders says the alleged shooter “apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign … I am sickened by this despicable act” pic.twitter.com/Nfye5Ebk8T
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 14, 2017
He also donated some money to the presidential campaign.
Reactions From Colleagues
Sen. Rand Paul heaped praise on the Capitol Police:
Sen. Rand Paul praises Capitol Police: "These guys were real heroes, and without them I think everyone would have been killed." pic.twitter.com/7WLUUvEPxY
— ABC News (@ABC) June 14, 2017
Senator Rand Paul tells CNN "no one would have survived without the Capitol Police detail…it would have been a massacre"
— Steve Brusk (@stevebruskNews) June 14, 2017
Sen. Jeff Flake stated that other members couldn’t get to Scalise for about 10 minutes because it was unsafe:
Sen. Jeff Flake: Scalise "laid out there for at least 10 minutes, alone in the field. We couldn't get to him while there were shots." pic.twitter.com/P5Wo8elbNc
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 14, 2017
House Democrats at the field praying for their colleague:
.@HouseDemocrats praying for our @HouseGOP @SenateGOP baseball colleagues after hearing about the horrific shooting. https://t.co/y2HEUaSuzd pic.twitter.com/6HBrlnxtey
— Rep. Ruben J. Kihuen (@RepKihuen) June 14, 2017
*Post will be updated as more information comes in.
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Comments
Of course the media will be along any second now to denounce this violence???
The Democrats will pull it the usual canned calls for gun control. They will utterly ignore their role in lowering public discourse and creating conditions ripe for sedition.
Oh yeah. If the shooter isn’t a racist right wing nutjob, the pundits will do the “too many guns” bit.
Didn’t mean to click the thumbs down. I agree with you. Also Va Gov McAuliff has already played the gun control card, ignoring the fact that the shooter is identified as a staunch Dem and Bernie supporter and Trump hater.
For the first time, Republicans in high office have experienced the results of Democratic Demagoguery. I wonder if this very personal incident will make Republicans more resolute and willing to confront Democrat prevarication, obstruction and demagoguery.
Scalise is a Rep. in my district
I betcha many of the liberal rags will try to draw comparisons to this to the Charleston church shooting
these same media outlets are so far out in left field with their “dissent is the highest form of patriotism” bullshit that they do not realize they are literally breeding this in the left’s masses
or maybe they do and simply do not care (and secretly support it like the Caesar is now Trump play)
it would not be long until outright dissent in the streets for a President the day of his historic election victory, millennial protest on campuses nation-wide, a Russian witch hunt still going on in Congress, 24/7 negative press on a Trump Presidency that was the inverse half a year before, photos and plays depicting killing the current President, and all others I haven’t listen would become bullets flying into Republicans
this is why Republicans in Congress are flat out stupid to even consider reaching out to the left side of politics – the voters on the other side fucking HATE you
civility is long gone from political discourse
just look at the twitter-verse right now to see Democrat voters literally spewing forth their disgust, not for the shooter but for Scalise
it is just as sick as when Zimmerman almost got shot in the head with (probably) these same sickos typing the same shit
Liberalism has become a literal disease in this country that has to be quashed with extreme prejudice in the form of armed resistance against their hate
I disagree with their politics. They disagree with my existence.
We have a fundamental disconnect, with emphasis on the “mental”.
So imagine for a moment if there were someone out there who believed everything they heard in the news about Republicans, about how Trump colluded with the Russians and stole the election and how racist and corrupt Republicans are. The perp might think of himself as justified in doing this, even patriotic.
It’s too early to know anything for sure yet, and we have few details, but this could get pretty scary.
you have just described 19 out of 20 persons in the US who vote Democrat
and that was not me joking
For those who have been thinking that a 2nd civil war was impossible, that talk of such a thing was ridiculous hyperbole –
targeted assassinations of political opponents is how it starts.
In the early summer of 1860, no one really believed there was going to be a war, either. Now this is not to say that it will happen – but we had better start acting like it could, and start acting accordingly.
Example: AntiFa and BLM should be declared Terrorist Organizations, and their financial backers should all be investigated and jailed, just like we would do for those who finance Al Qaeda.
If they’re going to escalate to terrorism, Democrats will have to be added to the Federal “no fly” list.
a man asked DeSantis if it was Republicans or Democrats practicing. About three minutes the shooting began, DeSantis said.
So, did DeSantis tell him which it was? Or did he decide to not talk to a guy carrying a rifle?
Since it was three minutes before the shooting began, one might infer that the guy went to get his rifle once he knew they were Republicans.
I apologize for the down vote. I was trying to scroll my mouse and clicked.
There’s no indication that this man was the shooter.
That would change everything if he wasn’t, but I can’t imagine the guy asking ‘Are these dems or republicans’ was not the shooter.
Praying for Rep. Scalise and the other victims of this shooter.
It is long past time for the political discourse of division to STOP!
It’s always best to wait for facts to emerge. However, based on DeSantis’s statement, it seems likely that the civil war previously being carried out on the streets by masked thugs with sticks and stones has escalated to conflict with firearms.
Thanks be to God for the reports that all shooting victims will survive.
DeSantis’s statement is irrelevant unless the man he saw was the shooter, and so far there’s been no indication of that.
DeSantis stated tonight on some talking head show (Hannity, I think) that the man who asked if it was Dems or Republicans was the shooter. He spent several hours with police today, and ID’ed him from photos.
The DemocRATs are trying their damnest to keep from getting elected to public office. If they keep doing this kind of crap, a DemocRAT office holder will be be as extinct as The dodo bird.
I will simply point out that if the gunman was targeting Republicans, then the Democratic rhetoric is not entirely to blame.
The elite media, with its minimization of the brutality of AntiFa and Anti-Trump thugs, and its glorification of the #Resist movement, share a good portion of the blame.
I would bet that the gunman thought he would go down as a hero.
I’d say that the media and democrats are the same creature, with the media being the PR wing, the democrats themselves as executives, and groups like BLM as the terror wing, reminiscent of the old KKK as the terror wing.
We talk about Sharia not being compatible with western civilization and values, we may be entering a strange time when our own media is not compatible with our values and heritage and perhaps not even western civilization itself. A Constitutional Republic is a poor form of government to deal with such stresses from within. We’re headed to a dark place as a nation.
“I would bet that the gunman thought he would go down as a hero.”
Curious how the same sentiment was expressed regarding that Reality Winner stealing and leaking Top Secret docs. These people might even be thinking of themselves as patriots.
“I would bet that the gunman thought he would go down as a hero.”
I suspect that in some circles he shall.
“I would bet that the gunman thought he would go down as a hero.”
I hope it doesn’t work out that way. John Wilkes Booth was also inspired by Shakespeare and expected to be celebrated as a national hero for having snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by reigniting the Civil War. Even the South quickly recognized Lincoln’s assassination as a disaster for them. Will today’s corrupt establishment be that noble? Is there any nobility or sense of decency remaining with these people?
Those who ignore (and sanitize) history shall be doomed to repeat it.
One reason I do not support the removal of our reminders of the Civil War. We’re not celebrating them, we’re leaving reminders of what happened so that we *think* about them.
Hard to sell reflection and consideration in an instant-gratification society, though.
According to a report, the shooter was a 66 year old white man from Illinois – looking like someone’s Grandpa.
Time to create a t-shirt…..bullseye on back and above it “Republican” and on front “D–mn Right I am not a Dirty Democrat”
The Left lives off hate, greed, and lawlessness ….so what is new to expect this not to happen? The Dems have begun the spinning out of control of this mess.
Sorry to go off topic a bit. Any news of the London fire? When I first saw reports I couldn’t help but think that it might have been set by one-whose-religion-cannot-be-named.
Daily Mail says an exploding refrigerator, and that the building has had the reputation of being a fire trap for years.
All I’ve seen so far is “big fire in London,” not anything about the cause. I am well aware that gas lines sometimes rupture, so I am withholding judgment for now.
If* the gunman asked whether those were Dems or Reps on the field, it suggests he was operating alone and was none too sophisticated at planning, i.e., that the shooter is more likely to be a lone nutjob than a member of some dangerous group sent out to do this.
COUNTDOWN BEGINS…….
1. For the first liberal to blame this on the ‘tone’ Trump has set for the country.
2. For the first liberal to blame the gun for leaping into the shooter’s hand and forcing him to shoot people, therefore demonstrating the need for immediate gun control laws.
*If, of course, is the biggest word in the dictionary.
I’m interested to know how this nutjob knew that congressional ball players would be out there. We have to wait until probably much later in the day for identification of the shooter and his background.
Well, they were practicing for a charity baseball game, and charity events usually are heavily advertised, especially congressional level events. But practice sites wouldn’t seem to be part of promotions. Maybe the practices were promoted, for the public to come watch, donate, etc., but a 6 am weekday morning was a tough draw. Maybe he saw an article mentioning Dems were practicing there, GOP here, and wanted to make sure he had the right group before opening fire.
If he was unaware until asking whether these were Dems or GOP practicing, that means he wouldn’t have known Scalise in particular was there, meaning he was targeting generic Republicans as opposed to a specific Republican.
When I first heard of this, my immediate first suspect was Hillary Clinton.
http://theweek.com/speedreads/705715/baseball-gunman-reportedly-identified-james-t-hodgkinson-illinois
Both had happened by the time you hit the “Submit” button on your comment.
I would just like to mention here that there is nothing in Trump’s actual words that is comparable to the sheer violence called for by the heads of the Democratic Party, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Fauxcahontas. There are “news” reports that grossly misrepresent DJT’s words.
Also, Project Veritas and the Wikileaks emails, as well as the US elections accounting database each contain independent evidence that the DNC and Hillary Campaign and at least one other Democratic PAC paid for violence against random Americans located near Trump and Republican rallies.
This is unAmerican. I think the Democratic Party has been following the Hamas roadmap.
So when will they finish scrubbing the shooters social media so they can release his name?
Shooter identified. 66-year-old from Illinois, a Bernie Sanders supporter, according to his Facebook page:
https://news.grabien.com/making-shooter-identified-law-enforcement-officials-james-t-hodgkin
Somebody should grab screen shots of that, then.
Already being done.
I saw earlier today that Facebook hadn’t frozen his account quickly enough and folks were screen-capping everything they could get their hands on.
Well if “Trumpcare” is literally killing people like the Democrats say then this Bernie Bro is just protecting his flock.
Ugh.
Democrats advocate knifing the President. They advocate beheading the President. They also advocate gunning down any Republican they can find. Democrats are an underclass of people.
Scalise now listed as “critical.” Possibly shock? Lord, have mercy.
Also, I’m proud that the hero Capitol Police officer who stood his ground so people could take cover, thus saving many lives although himself wounded, is a graduate of NCCU, not far from here. Well done, sir.