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Breaking News
posted by takyon on Wednesday June 14 2017, @04:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-baseball-jokes dept.

A gunman opened fire at U.S. Congressmen and others who were gathered at a practice this morning for the Congressional Baseball Game. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and at least four others were reportedly injured. The gunman, who has been identified by unnamed sources as James T. Hodgkinson III, was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries:

A gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire Wednesday at a park in Alexandria, Va., as Republican members of Congress held a morning baseball practice, wounding at least five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (La.).

The suspected gunman is James T. Hodgkinson III, 66, from Illinois, according to multiple law enforcement sources. President Trump announced that the gunman, who was wounded in a shootout with officers, has died at an area hospital.

The wounded also included two Capitol Police officers and a congressional aide, according to one law enforcement official and witness accounts.

Congressman Scalise was shot in the hip and is in stable condition.

Hodgkinson's motive may have already been identified by the media:

A Facebook page belonging to a person with the same name includes pictures of Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, and rhetoric against President Trump, including a post that reads: "Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co."

Charles Orear, 50, a restaurant manager from St. Louis, said in an interview Wednesday that he became friendly with Hodgkinson during their work together in Iowa on Sanders's campaign. Orear said Hodgkinson was a passionate progressive and showed no signs of violence or malice toward others.

Also at LA Times, Reuters, The Atlantic, The Hill, and CNN.


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday June 15 2017, @09:04AM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 15 2017, @09:04AM (#525920) Journal

    Shine the light of truth, see what kind of shit bags you are surrounded with. I guarantee that there is more real racism than you think, and even the "I'm not racist but I like a good off-color joke haha" is minimalist racism, subconscious bullshit that does have an effect.

    Or we could worry about other problems. I think it's a bit hypocritical to have this big hate on for "shit bags" just because they have a bit of flawed humanity. And "minimalist racism" is a hell of a lot better than what used to go on, like the slavery you mentioned earlier.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @07:10PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @07:10PM (#526152)

    Meh whatever, you're just using the mirroring tactic to try and judge me back. Anger is a natural human emotion, with hatred being the more extreme side. Racists are hateful shitbags, and calling them out does not suddenly make me the same as them. I understand the hypocrisy angle you're trying to work here, but that is not how human nature works.

    I have compassion for the flawed people and have had many conversations trying to discuss the issues. They always end up detrimental to myself since arguing with a racist/minimal racist is not fun or productive for my own growth, and is very questionable as to how much it helps them. We are making slow progress on the racism front, but the big PC culture wave has led a lot of people to think "hey we're over it!" when that is very very far from the truth. The racists became unpopular, went underground, and hide in plain site. KKK members working on the police force, that is about the worst scenario imaginable.

    So address the issues and stop trying to deflect away from them. If you don't consider yourself a bigot then go help your political peers, because a good fraction of them really are.

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday June 15 2017, @11:54PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 15 2017, @11:54PM (#526258) Journal

      Meh whatever, you're just using the mirroring tactic to try and judge me back.

      Of course, I am. And it works because you are being deeply hypocritical here. If you can't come close to living up to your morality, then I probably can't either. I certainly am not going to bother to try.

      I have compassion for the flawed people and have had many conversations trying to discuss the issues. They always end up detrimental to myself since arguing with a racist/minimal racist is not fun or productive for my own growth, and is very questionable as to how much it helps them.

      Yet again I see the excuse that arguing with people who disagree with you is "not fun or productive". That's a classic problem with people who haven't learned how to argue and who have high expectations for mere argument. I think learning to reason and argue, and learning to understand others, even racists would be more productive than grandstanding about how much you've tried in the past with token efforts.

      We are making slow progress on the racism front, but the big PC culture wave has led a lot of people to think "hey we're over it!" when that is very very far from the truth.

      What makes you think those people aren't right? I disagree that this is somehow "far" from the truth. We have a variety of signs, such as improving welfare of minorities and interracial couples to indicate that something very positive is happening.

      The racists became unpopular, went underground, and hide in plain site. KKK members working on the police force, that is about the worst scenario imaginable.

      Let's start with that second observation first. What's wrong with a KKK member wanting to serve their community? It would depend on what sort of klan the officer was a member of. Some are law abiding and respect laws on discrimination, etc, some don't. It should be like any other group membership.

      Second, what exactly is wrong with going underground? That was the desired outcome, right? Breaking the back of racism by making it an ostracized belief. As to hiding in "plain site", where exactly do you want racists to hide? I'd rather have them as productive members of society than as hidden prisoners in some gulag. That's far more humane.