Former Rare Staff
According to the Washington Post, law enforcement officials have confirmed the identity of a man who opened fire on Republican politicians and their staffers at a baseball field near Washington, D.C. Sixty-six-year-old James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois has been identified by the Washington Post as the shooter. Hodgkinson is alleged to have opened fire on Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and countless other elected officials. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was shot and wounded.
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A Facebook page for a person who appears to be James Hodgkinson reveals that the man in question once owned a home inspection business.
Many of Hodgkinson’s posts support former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
In the moments since Hodgkinson was identified hundreds of Facebook users took to his page to condemn him for his alleged involvement in the attack.
Several of Hodgkinson’s Facebook statuses are still public, including many in support of Senator Sanders and others that criticize President Donald Trump.
“Bernie is a Progressive, while Hillary is Republican Lite,” Hodgkinson once wrote.
During the presidential campaign, Hodgkinson wrote that President Trump was “making an ass of himself.”
“Oligarchy is a Government Run by the Few Richest People in the Country. Any one of these Republican Clowns Have Someone in the Background Pulling Strings & Telling Them What to Say. Trump Stands Out Because He is Using His Own Money to Make an Ass of Himself….” Hodgkinson wrote.
In an interview with Robert Costa of the Washington Post, a friend of the alleged shooter expressed shock about the incident.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Charles Orear told the Washington Post. “I met him on the Bernie trail in Iowa, worked with him in the Quad Cities area.”
“He was this union tradesman, pretty stocky, and we stayed up talking politics.”
Orear described the alleged shooter as a “passionate progressive.”
Senator Sanders was among the politicians who expressed their concern for Rep. Scalise and other victims.
Our prayers go out for a full recovery of Rep. Scalise, the congressional aides and police who were injured. We’ve got to stop the violence.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 14, 2017
“Our prayers go out for a full recovery of Rep. Scalise, the congressional aides and police who were injured. We’ve got to stop the violence,” Sanders wrote.
