BREAKING: House majority whip Steve Scalise shot; stable condition; shooter asked, ‘Are those Republicans or Democrats?’
(National Sentinel) BREAKING NEWS: REP. STEVE SCALISE, THE HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP, HAS BEEN SHOT DURING PRACTICE FOR A CHARITY SOFTBALL GAME NEAR THE NATION’S CAPITAL WEDNESDAY MORNING, according to multiple reports.
CNN reported:
Rep. Steve Scalise was shot Wednesday morning in Alexandria, Virginia, a House colleague told CNN, in what sources are calling an apparent “deliberate attack.”
Rep. Mo Brooks told CNN he was on deck at a practice for the congressional baseball team when the shooting occurred. Scalise, a member of the House Republican leadership as the majority whip, appeared to have been shot in the hip and it appeared two Capitol Hill police agents were shot, Brooks added.
According to both congressional and law enforcement sources, the shooting appears to be a “deliberate attack.” Alexandria police said earlier Wednesday they were responding to a “multiple shooting” in the city. The tweet also said the suspect is in custody “and not a threat.”
NBC News is reporting that Scalise is in stable condition.
CBSDetroit reported comments from Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., who said members and their aides at the field were “sitting ducks.”
“As we were standing here this morning, a gunman walked up to the fence line and just began to shoot. I was standing at home plate and he was in the third base line,” Bishop said. “He had a rifle that was clearly meant for the job of taking people out, multiple casualties, and he had several rounds and magazines that he kept unloading and reloading.”
He said he believes the only reason he and most of the others are alive is because someone at the ball field had a gun and returned fire.
“The only reason why any of us walked out of this thing, by the grace of God, one of the folks here had a weapon to fire back and give us a moment to find cover. We were inside the backstop and if we didn’t have that cover by a brave person who stood up and took a shot themselves, we would not have gotten out of there and every one of us would have been hit — every single one of us,” said Bishop. “He was coming around the fence line and he was looking for all of us who had found cover in different spots. But if we didn’t have return fire right there, he would have come up to each one of us and shot us point-blank.”
Democratic congressmen – and this is key – were not on that field; they were practicing on a field several miles away.
Why is it key? Because, as The Gateway Pundit reports, the gunman first asked whether the lawmakers upon whom he would soon open fire were Democrats or Republicans:
Rand Paul says 50-60 shots.
said he was asked,
This was right before the shooting.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer nailed it with this tweet, however, since most thinking people understand this was very likely a politically motivated crime:
Update [08:36]: Rep. Mark Walker says gunman there “to kill as many Republicans as possible.”
Still no Democrats stepping forward to denounce violence they themselves are responsible for creating (#resist; presidential assassination porn; condoning violence on campuses; etc.)
Update [10:09]: The Washington Post identified the shooter as James T. Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Ill., 66, who owns his own home inspection business. The paper noted further:
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.
According to his Facebook page, Hodgkinson is a supporter of one-time Democratic presidential contender and avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. His profile ‘picture’ features the words, “Democratic Socialism explained in 3 words: We the people,” with an American flag backdrop.
Stay tuned.
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