James T. Hodgkinson. (Facebook)
James Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Illinois, has been named as the gunman who shot state Rep. Steve Scalise and others at a Congressional baseball practice in Virginia.
The Illinois man littered his Facebook page with political photos and commentary. A sample: He wrote recently, “Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.” He also posted that he had signed a petition urging an independent investigation into Donald Trump and Russia, and he was a fan of Bernie Sanders, whose picture was his cover photo.
Hodgkinson’s Facebook page contains several photos of him.
Here’s one:
(Yelp)
Here’s a longer view of the photo posted above:
(Facebook)
Here’s another photo of the baseball practice shooter, who was neutralized by two Capitol police officers who are being lauded as heroes for returning his fire when he showed up heavily armed at the practice and started shooting. None of the victims of the shooting has died.
(Facebook)
Hodgkinson was married to Sue, although she told ABC News he had been living in Virginia the past two months. She is an executive assistant at an accounting firm in Belleville, Illinois.
James Hodgkinson and his wife, Sue. (Facebook)
This is also a photo of the shooter from his Twitter page, where he also made political comments, including a tweet directly at Sanders:
(Twitter)
James Hodgkinson had an arrest history for domestic violence. Here is his 2006 mugshot from that incident:
Hodgkinson’s mugshot from his 2006 arrest.
Hodgkinson filled his Facebook page with even more political posts, many of them focused on Bernie Sanders. His cover photo is of Bernie:
(Facebook)
The shooter posted this as his profile picture on Facebook:
James Hodgkinson’s Facebook profile picture.
The 66-year-old shooter listed the following details about his background on Facebook:
Former Owner at JTH Inspections
Former Owner at JTH Construction
Studied at SIU Edwardsville
Studied Flight Training at Southwestern Illinois College
Went to BTHS West
Lives in Belleville, Illinois
From Belleville, Illinois
He posted these photos of Bernie Sanders:
And this one:
(Facebook)
He made this post:
James Hogkinson Facebook post.
He wrote on Facebook that he had worked as a “Home Inspector, Mold/Air Quality Tester.”
Video showed the wounded Scalise being removed from the park on a stretcher. He was in stable condition at the hospital. Another representative describing using a tourniquet on his wound to stop the bleeding. Other staffers scattered as the shooting broke out. It could have been much worse if it wasn’t for the quick-thinking actions of the two Capitol officers, who were also shot.
You can read more about the gunman here:
