On June 14, James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois opened fire on congressmen and staffers at a practice for the annual congressional baseball game. The game started in 1909 as an offhand event and has matured into one of Washington, D.C’s most anticipated pastimes. The FBI named 66-year old Hodgkinson as the suspect in the shooting and based on his social media accounts, Hodgkinson was a ferocious opponent of President Donald Trump.
After a review of his social media accounts, the FBI has reason to believe that Hodgkinson, who owned a home-inspection company, was a devout supporter of progressive politics and a massive critic of the 45th President of the United States.
The shooting took place in Alexandria, Virginia and Trump disclosed that the suspect who had carried out the attack had died from his injuries but did not name him.
On Hodgkinson’s Facebook and Twitter profiles, one can see a number of anti-Trump and anti-Republican posts, including a post on March 22 which stated, “Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” He also joined an assortment of Facebook groups, including “The Road to Hell is Paved with Republicans” and “Terminate the Republican Party.”
There are court records that show that Hodgkinson has been arrested on charges of battery and aiding the damage of a motor vehicle in 2006. However, these charges were eventually thrown out.
Hodgkinson’s family believes the attack was “totally out of the blue”.
Hodgkinson was a known supporter of Bernie Sanders and even volunteered for his presidential campaign in 2016. Sanders, who has been the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007, released a statement on Wednesday saying, “I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign.” He added, “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.”
Hodgkinson’s brother, Michael told The New York Times that his brother “wasn’t happy with the way things were going, the election results and stuff.” He remarked that the attack was “totally out of the blue.” Despite not being close with brother, Michael was aware that Hodgkinson was very politically active but that he led a fairly regular life.
One of Hodgkinson’s acquaintances that he campaigned with for Sanders in 2016, Charles Orear, told The Washington Post that Hodgkinson was a “quiet guy” and that he was usually “very mellow, very reserved.”
“He was this union tradesman, pretty stocky, and we stayed up talking about politics,” explained Orear. “He was more on the really progressive side of things.”
There are speculations that something had triggered Hodgkinson a few months prior to the attack as Aaron Meurer, one of Hodgkinson’s neighbors, told the Belleville News-Democrat that Hodgkinson had been away for the past two months and he was not sure as to whether Hodgkinson was still with his wife, Suzanne.
“She said that he went on a trip. She wasn’t real specific,” said Meurer. “I knew he was a Democrat, a pretty hardcore one. I know he wasn’t happy when Trump got elected but he seemed like a nice enough guy.”
When asked, Suzanne told ABC that Hodgkinson had been living in Alexandria, Virginia, for the past two months. According to The New York Times, Hodgkinson was living out of his van and was taking showers at the Y.M.C.A.
Hodgkinson was known for his criticisms of Republicans.
After the FBI named Hodgkinson as the suspect, the Belleville News-Democrat released a number of letters Hodgkinson wrote to the editor between 2008 and 2012. The majority of the letters are critiques of Republican politicians and conservative policies.
In fact, in one of the letters, Hodgkinson suggested that President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their administration were traitors. He also accused them of “war profiteering.” The Belleville News-Democrat released another letter which showed Hodgkinson expressing his hopes that the Obama administration would increase income tax rates on the rich and that the time had come to “legalize or at least decriminalize marijuana use.”
Additionally, Hodgkinson attacked President Ronald Reagan for giving tax breaks to the rich. He stated in the letter, “I don’t ever again want to hear how great a president he was.” A photo has been released of Hodgkinson holding a sign which read, “Tax the rich like Congress did for 70 years till Reagan’s ‘Trickle Down’”. Hodgkinson is clearly referring to the “trickle down effect” which is an economic theory that states that the benefits of the wealth will eventually trickle down to everyone else.
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