After James T. Hodgkinson, age 66, opened fire on Congressional Republicans practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball game on Wednesday morning, injuring House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, an aide, and two officers, questions are swirling as to what motivated the attack.
Hogkinson, who died from his injuries when Capitol Police officers returned fire, was a Bernie Sanders supporter and volunteer on his campaign. His Facebook page is rife with anti-Trump rhetoric where he wrote in a post on March 22nd, “Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.”
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Sanders released a statement on the Senate floor condemning the shooting after learning he was a volunteer on his campaign, saying he is “sickened by this despicable act.”
Respect to Bernie Sanders for this immediate response. pic.twitter.com/qvB0vh6hJ6
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) June 14, 2017
It should be noted that both Democrats and Republicans have condemned the act. However, the elephant in the room that everyone seems to be ignoring is the culture of political discourse that has been poisoned by the Left and groups like Antifa since Trump’s election.
While no public official has associated or embraced these Leftist groups with the exception of Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, it should be noted that not enough is being done to stop it. Politicians like Bernie Sanders, who isn’t the type to demonize his opponents or groups of people, continued to call for a “political revolution” throughout his campaign and beyond. You can’t possibly hang this shooting over Bernie’s head and blame him for it, but I would be remiss to not mention that revolutions aren’t peaceful — they’re almost always violent.
The Left and groups like Antifa have embodied that “political revolution” mentality to resist President Trump and Republicans. They use increasingly violent tactics against Republicans and conservatives, and call everyone who disagrees with them a “Nazi” or “white supremacist” to justify their violent behavior.
Just look at what happened in Portland, Oregon in May where a Bernie Sanders supporter and white supremacist Jeremy Joseph Christian stabbed three people, killing two. The men he killed were trying to stand up to him after he racially abused two teenage girls (one of whom is a Muslim wearing a hijab). Yet, Leftists demanded that Donald Trump condemn the attack because they associate white supremacy with his presidency.
The double standard is there. People incessantly demand that Donald Trump condemn violence and bad behavior by his supporters, but those same people don’t demand the same from their Democrat leaders. As comedian Jeremy McLellan once said, “hate is a house fire, it never stays in one room.”
