About 24 hours before he’s set to take the field, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said he has “mixed emotions” about playing in the annual charity game on Thursday night game.
{mosads}Hours after a gunman attacked GOP lawmakers practicing in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday morning, Swalwell said, “We’ll go on, our resilience as a country, that’s what makes us a strong country, but it’ll be a different tone tomorrow.”
At least five individuals, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and two Capitol Police officers, were wounded during the incident.
The alleged shooter, James Hodgkinson, 66, died Wednesday from wounds sustained in the shootout with police, authorities confirmed.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), one of the lawmakers at Wednesday morning’s practice, said that if the game were just for recreation then it would have been cancelled, but because it is for charity, “I think we need to go ahead and be on the field, and play this game for the kids.”
Proceeds from the game go to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington and the Washington Literacy Center and the Nationals Dream Foundation.