Scalise says he was ‘shocked’ when the FBI erased political motive behind GOP shooting
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ORLANDO — House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who was grievously injured on June 14, 2017, by a left-wing shooter who targeted GOP lawmakers at a baseball practice, said Republicans were “shocked” and “furious” when the FBI informed them they planned to classify the incident as “suicide by cop.”
“It was disturbing,” Scalise told a group of reporters at the House GOP Issues Retreat in Orlando, Florida. “A lot of us who were on the baseball team, when it was first conveyed to us that was how they were classifying it, were furious.”
The “suicide by cop” classification is now under review by FBI Director Christopher Wray after Rep. Brad Wenstrup made the request at a public hearing. Wenstrup, an Ohio Republican and a medical doctor, was on the baseball field during the shooting and helped stop the bleeding when Scalise was hit by several bullets.
“I’m encouraged that he’s willing to look at it,” Scalise said of Wray.
Scalise and the other GOP lawmakers on the baseball field that day were told by the FBI sometime in late 2017 that the bureau planned to declare shooter James Hodgkinson as suicidal when he opened fire on an Alexandria, Virginia, baseball field where Republican lawmakers were practicing ahead of the annual congressional baseball game.
Hodgkinson was a Bernie Sanders supporter whose posts on social media showed disdain and hatred for the GOP and former President Donald Trump. As he approached the baseball field the day of the shooting, he asked two people leaving the field whether those remaining were Democrats or Republicans before opening fire on the group. His pocket contained a list of names of GOP lawmakers.
Hodgkinson nearly killed Scalise with a shot to his hip. He then engaged in gunfire with Scalise’s police security detail.
Scalise said Hodgkinson made every effort to hit the two U.S. Capitol Police officers while dodging behind the third-base dugout to escape their bullets. Police eventually wounded Hodgkinson, and he died later.
“That’s not suicide by cop, that’s a guy hiding, trying to kill a cop who was exposed completely,” Scalise told reporters. “And so, for that to be classified that way, it was disturbing.”
Scalise said the group of GOP lawmakers that was briefed on the classification in 2017 told the FBI it disagreed with the determination. At the time, the bureau was under the direction of Andrew McCabe, who was acting FBI director.
“We expressed our disagreement at that meeting, and they didn’t do anything about it,” Scalise said. “They didn’t seem to care.”
Scalise decided at the time not to pursue changing the classification, telling reporters on Monday he was more interested in focusing on his own recovery, which, after weeks of hospitalization, has required years of physical therapy, which is still ongoing, just to walk normally.
“I didn’t have the energy in the time to worry about what the report said,” Scalise said. “I know what happened.”
Tags: News, Congress, Steve Scalise, Florida, FBI, Gun Violence
Original Author: Susan Ferrechio
Original Location: Scalise says he was ‘shocked’ when the FBI erased political motive behind GOP shooting