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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.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday June 15 2017, @05:17PM
Your error is fundamental. You assume the judiciary will do the right thing. But they don't. That's why we have unconstitutional searches and seizures; that's why we have unconstitutional ex post facto laws; that's why we have unconstitutional "free speech zones"; that's why we have massive unconstitutional infringement on the right to keep and bear arms; and so on.
When congress creates an unconstitutional law, we can observe this – the constitution is written in plain English – and vote them out. We, the people, have the power to object, to bring in those who would undo the problem within just a few years – as long as it's just legislation. This eliminates the massive conflict of interest that is created by the government saying its own laws are okay.
Whereas a supreme court position is an appointment for life. When you get bad justices in there – as we have had for many decades now – we're stuck with them. Which in turn means that bad law – "case law" – made by the justices themselves can stand for a much longer time, and we have no political control over that. As we have seen. Repeatedly. They have to die or retire before there's even a chance of the people having an indirect effect.
It should be up to us. Not a government entity we can't say yea or nay to.
The judiciary was intended to be the weakest branch of government. Not the most powerful. You know how it became the most powerful? Case law.
But don't worry. None of this will change. The mold is set; the future will be more of the same. So relax and enjoy being ruled by a majority among nine. That old constitution thing is just a piece of paper anyway, no need for the people to have any say about it. Right? Right?