Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday he was “sickened” by the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and others at a congressional baseball practice, which appears to have been carried out by a former volunteer for his presidential campaign.
“I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign,” Sanders said in a statement delivered on the Senate floor.
“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 and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms,” he added.
{mosads}The Vermont senator said real change can only be achieved “through nonviolent action, and anything else runs against our most deeply held American values.”
“My hopes and prayers are that Representative Scalise, congressional staff and the Capitol Police Officers who were wounded make a quick and full recovery,” he said.
“I also want to thank the Capitol Police for their heroic actions to prevent further harm.”
President Trump said in a brief statement from the White House on Wednesday that the shooter had died from his injuries. The alleged gunman was
identified in reports as James T. Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Ill.
An acquaintance of Hodgkinson told
The Washington Post that he met him during their work on Sanders’s presidential campaign.
Charles Orear, whom the Post contacted after seeing he liked one of Hodgkinson’s Facebook posts, described the alleged shooter as a “quiet guy” who was “very mellow, very reserved.”
Hodgkinson also made two small-dollar donations to Sanders’s campaign.
Scalise, the House majority whip, was
among several people shot during the baseball practice early Wednesday in a Washington, D.C., suburb. He was in stable condition, according to his office.
It was believed the single gunman fired as many as 50 shots as GOP lawmakers and aides scrambled for cover. Members were practicing ahead of the annual Congressional Baseball Game, scheduled for Thursday.
Updated: 12:23 p.m.
