A friend of the man identified as the suspect in a shooting Wednesday morning at a Republican congressional baseball practice described him as a political progressive who volunteered on Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
Multiple reports identified the suspected gunman as James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old from Belleville, Illinois.
Charles Orear, a 60-year-old from St. Louis, told the Washington Post on Wednesday that he met Hodgkinson while working on Sanders’ campaign in Iowa.
“He was this union tradesman, pretty stocky, and we stayed up talking politics,” Orear said. “He was more on the really progressive side of things.”
He said Hodgkinson was a “quiet guy” and expressed surprise when told about the shooting: “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
