The Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va.–The business of the House was resuming a day after a rifle-wielding attacker opened fire on Republican lawmakers practising for a charity baseball game, critically wounding House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and hitting aides and Capitol police.
The assailant, who had nursed grievances against U.S. President Donald Trump and the GOP, fought a gun battle with police before he, too, was shot and later died.
Colleagues said Scalise, who had been fielding balls at second base, dragged himself away from the infield–leaving a trail of blood before they rushed to his assistance.
He was listed in critical condition last night at a Washington hospital, which said he will require several more operations.
The shooter was identified as James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old home inspector from Illinois who had several minor run-ins with the law in recent years and belonged to a Facebook group called “Terminate the Republican Party.”
Capitol Police officers who were in Scalise’s security detail wounded the shooter, who was taken into custody.
He later died of his injuries, Trump told the nation from the White House.
“Everyone on that field is a public servant,” Trump said, his tone sombre, America’s acrimonious politics set aside for the moment.
“Their sacrifice makes democracy possible.”
After visiting Scalise yesterday evening at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Trump tweeted: “Rep. Steve Scalise, one of the truly great people, is in very tough shape–but he is a real fighter. Pray for Steve!”
Lawmakers noted their good fortune in having armed protectors on hand–“Thank God,” they exclaimed over and over–and said otherwise the shooter would have been able to take a huge deadly toll.
Across the Potomac River in Washington, the shocking events left the Capitol horrified and stunned, and prompted immediate reflection on the current hostility and vitriol in American politics.
Lawmakers called for a new dialogue on lowering the partisan temperature, and Trump urged Americans to come together as he assumed the role of national unifier for one of the first times in his presidency.
Proceedings were cancelled for the day in the House, and instead Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California issued their own calls for unity.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” Ryan said to prolonged applause.
But House proceedings were to resume as usual today, and lawmakers were returning to the Capitol in search of some semblance of normalcy.
Shortly after the shooting, Bernie Sanders, the former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said on the Senate floor that the shooter apparently was a volunteer for his campaign last year.
Sanders said he denounced the violence “in the strongest possible terms.”
Hodgkinson has been in the area since March, living out of his van, said local FBI Special Agent In Charge Tim Slater.
Hodgkinson’s apparent Facebook page included strong criticism of Republicans and the Trump administration.
But Slater said authorities still were working to determine a motive and had “no indication” Hodgkinson knew about the ball practice ahead of time.
