WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI says a gunman acted alone when he shot and wounded a top House Republican and four other people on a northern Virginia baseball field.
Tim Slater, the special agent in charge of the Washington FBI office, also said during a news conference Wednesday that James T. Hodgkinson did not have any ties to terrorism.
Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority whip, was gravely wounded in the shooting last week. He has undergone several surgeries and remains hospitalized. His condition has been upgraded to serious.
Scalise and other congressional Republicans were practicing for their annual charity baseball game against Democrats when a gunman started shooting. U.S. Capitol Police and other officers returned fire and killed the gunman, who turned out to be an unemployed home inspector with a deep animus toward President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
“No ties to terrorism.”
Except that he is, actually, a terrorist. This wasn’t some domestic dispute where random targets were caught in the crossfire - he targeted politicians for political reasons. That’s terrorism.
I think it means he was not associated with any group or organization encouraging, promoting, planning or assisting in any way with his decision to shoot at the Republicans at ball practice. I do not believe they are saying it wasn’t a terroristic act but that there was no one else involved.
And that he doesn’t represent some larger threat. He’s not part of some domestic group plotting a larger rampage of violence against Republicans – despite the rightwing hysteria over “violent leftists”.
Well, yes, that is what they are saying, but there is a persistent idea that “terrorism” only means the kind promoted by ISIS.
By this definition (the size of conspiracy) Eric Rudolf was not a terrorist - and I’m sorry, but he was, and the media and the FBI were not squeamish about describing him as such.
COVERUP!!! WHITEWASH!!! CONSPIRACY!!!
DEEP STATE!!
DEEP STATE!!
ROWR!! FLEEN!!
[/hannity]