The Alexandria Shooting Appears To Be Politically Motivated UPDATE

At least five people have been wounded at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia this morning where Congressional Republicans were practicing for a baseball game with Democrats at Nationals Park on Thursday evening. Among the wounded is House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Also injured are a couple of congressional aides and two members of the Capitol Police. The suspect has yet to be identified.


The shooting appears to be politically motivated. According to Florida Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis, he and another Congressman were approached by a man who asked them if they were Republicans or Democrats. Not long after telling the man they were Republicans this same man began shooting.


Obviously more information will emerge in the coming days and that information will be spun politically both Left and Right.


Of course, one cannot help but think of the shooting of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Tucson resulting in the deaths of six people including a child back in January 2011. In the weeks that followed a concerted attempt was made to blame the Tea Party for the shooting despite the fact the assassin had no such political affiliation and were treated to the usual lectures by President Obama on civility and gun control.


If DeSantis' account is correct then no doubt Trump supporters and Republicans at large will spare no effort to vilify the Left. While some of it might be just desserts and sweet revenge it will invariably involve a broad brush. People of sincere political convictions without a violent bone in their body are sure to be vilified. Whatever the facts of this incident they will probably not get in the way of any argument which comes forth


At this point, let us hope all those who were injured recover swiftly.


UPDATE: The alleged shooter has been identified as James T. Hodgkinson. An acquaintance has informed The Washington Post that Hodgkinson was a campaign volunteer for Bernie Sanders in Iowa.


I hope conservatives will refrain from painting all Sanders' supporters as terrorists or supporters of terrorists. By the same token should another shooting take place I hope that The Left won't be so eager to blame conservatives as they did with Gabby Giffords. But this hope is a faint one.


UPDATE II: President Trump revealed during his statement to the nation that Hodgkinson had died during his confrontation with Capitol Police.


Trump added, "We may have our differences, but we do well, in times like these, to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country."


I can only hope that Trump lives up to those words, but I have my doubts.