Culture

Bernie Sanders Says He’s ‘Sickened’ After Learning That The Congressional Baseball Field Shooter Campaigned For Him

Following Wednesday morning’s shooting attack on a Congressional baseball practice session — which injured House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, two Capitol Hill cops, and multiple congressional aides — reports soon surfaced that suspected gunman James T. Hodgkinson publicly identified as a Bernie Sanders supporter. Internet sleuths soon tracked down Hodgkinson’s purported social media accounts, which appeared to verify this status. And the Washington Post learned that the attacker also apparently volunteered as a campaign worker for the Vermont senator in Iowa during the presidential primaries. In response to this news, a “sickened” Sanders made the following statement on the Senate floor:

“I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice this morning is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign. I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be: Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society, and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change can only come about through nonviolent action, and anything else runs counter to our most deeply held American values.”

Sanders also expressed hope that the wounded would make a full recovery, and he praised the “heroic” actions of Capitol Hill policemen, along with law enforcement from surrounding areas. Hours after the shooting, President Trump broke the news that Hodgkinson had died from injuries sustained in what authorities believe was a very “deliberate” attack.

In the wake of the shooting, the office of Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) searched for contact records for Hodkinson (who lives in Bost’s district) and found fourteen such encounters (both email and phone). Bost said that the suspect never made “any threats, only anger,” and that he “never crossed the line.”

Regarding Hodgkinson’s supposed time helping the Sanders campaign, Robert Becker (who directed operations in Iowa) is stressing that Hodgkinson never had a formal (or paid) role working for the Democratic candidate. Further, there was no record of Hodgkinson as one of 10,000 people who volunteered for Sanders during the course of the election. “We had approximately 100 paid organizers on staff,” he also told the Washington Post. “He was not one of them.”

In this clip, CNN reports that Hodgkinson’s social media rantings, which often took a decidedly anti-Trump slant, did not rise to the level where he landed on the Secret Service’s radar.

(Via CNN & Washington Post)