That social media and letters to the editor showed Hodgkinson to be an ardent liberal who hated congressional Republicans gave the attacks an terrible partisan overtone and inevitably led Rep. Peter King, R-Iowa; Newt Gingrich; Rush Limbaugh; and others to blame it on the left's harsh criticism of President Trump.
Saturday evening, Eric Tucker and Erica Werner at the Associated Press were clearly determined to tell readers as little as they possibly could about the list of GOP lawmakers' names found on James Hodgkinson after he was killed trying to assassinate several congressmen and others present at a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia on Wednesday. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Trent Franks of Arizona, and Mo Brooks of Alabama. Hodgkinson's widow released a statement that she had "no idea" he was planning to carry out the attack and that he said he was headed to Washington D.C.to "work on taxes". Hodgkinson maintained a social media presence that was pro-Bernie Sanders and anti-Republican.
Scalise, No. 3 in the House of Representatives Republican leadership, was shot in the hip and remains hospitalized.
Hodgkinson, was shot by police and later died of his wounds. It is not known how many other names may have been on Hodgkinson's list.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) traced the two weapons recovered from the scene - a 9 mm handgun and a 7.62 caliber rifle.
Pressure nothing new for All Blacks, says Read
Peter O'Mahony will captain the British & Irish Lions against New Zealand in the first Test in Auckland on Saturday. Prior to that series the New Zealanders had an overall winning percentage of 73 out of 393 Tests.
Hodgkinson's online political rants were mostly anti-Republican and officials said they were within his First Amendment rights. He didn't speculate on Tom Hodgkinson's mental state except to say he was struggling.
He said it also appeared Hodgkinson was running out of money as he was living out of his van in Alexandria.
Hodgkinson had a piece of paper with the names of six members of Congress written on it, Slater said, but the note lacked any further context and there was no evidence from his computer, phone or other belongings that indicated he planned to target those officials. Duncan told him "Republicans", and Hodgkinson promptly got his guns and returned to the field shooting. They were practicing for the annual charity baseball game to be played the next day, on Thursday, at National's Field, which is a 100-year-old tradition in Washington.
Along with Brooks, Duncan, DeSantis, Flake and Paul, others on the field included Reps. A staffer, lobbyist and Capitol Hill police officer also suffered gunshot wounds during the attack. "It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co".
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