GOP Shooter identified as James T. Hodgkinson, here’s what we know…

Earlier this morning, SOFREP reported on a shooting that targeted Republican U.S. lawmakers as they practiced for a charity baseball game.  The incident resulted in senior Republican leader Steve Scalise suffering a serious gunshot wound to the hip, as well as four others, including two Capitol Hill police officers that were wounded in the ensuing shoot out.

The shooter has now been identified by law enforcement as James T. Hodgkinson (66) of Belleville, Illinois.  As this article is being written, President Trump announced that Hodgkinson died as a result of injuries sustained in the shootout with police.

Steve Scalise is said to be in stable condition as he goes in for surgery to treat the gunshot wound he sustained.

According to reports emerging in the media, Hodgkinson owns a seemingly defunct home inspection business.  His license to conduct home inspections expired in November of 2016, and according to state records, no effort has been made to renew it.  According to the events section of his Facebook profile, he “left” that job in December of 2016.

Although Hodgkinson’s motives for the attack have yet to be revealed, a perusal of his social media accounts shows that he identifies as a Democratic Socialist and was an avid Bernie Sanders supporter throughout the election and since.  His profile picture on Facebook is an image of white texts over an American flag that reads, “Democratic Socialism explained in 3 words: WE THE PEOPLE.”

Bernie Sanders issued a statement late this morning regarding the attack: ““Our prayers go out for a full recovery of Rep. Scalise, the congressional aides and police officers who were injured. We’ve got to stop the violence.”

Although Hodgkinson has not posted anything since May 24^th to his public timeline, previous posts indicate that he harbored extremely negative views of the Republican party and sitting president, Donald Trump.  In one post dated March 22^nd, Hodgkinson declares “Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.”

Hodgkinson’s Facebook account follows a number of liberal leaning pages, including Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and a number of other Clinton related sites, “Rachel Maddow for President,” “Just Say No to Republicans,” and “Republicans Are the Problem.”

He was also a member of a number of political groups through Facebook, including “Sanders for President 2020,” “Donald Trump is Not My President,” and “Terminate the Republican Party.”

Public comments have been pouring in on Hodgkinson’s post since the shooting occurred, with members from both political parties debating the political motivations of the shooter, and pointing fingers at each party, as well as the media, for driving the middle-aged man to violence.