Washington, DC
Congressman Richard Neal, D-Springfield, said Wednesday that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle agree that the tone needs to change in American politics — particularly in the wake of the shooting at an Alexandria field where GOP lawmakers were holding a baseball practice.
The Springfield Democrat, who has served nearly 30 years in Congress, raised concerns about what he called a “deterioration in the manner we talk to each other” and the role social media may play in amplifying that rhetoric.
Neal offered that such discourse may have contributed to shooting suspect James T. Hodgkinson’s reported decision to open fire on Republican members of Congress, staffers and others gathered at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park.
A charity baseball game between Democratic and Republican members of Congress will take place Thursday evening as originally scheduled, despite a shooting at the field where the GOP team was practicing Wednesday, lawmakers have announced.
“I think there’s a tone to the conversation today that’s amplified by social media which obviously had an impact on the shooter,” he said in a phone interview. “His social media background is now becoming more evident and, coupled with the fact that he know where they were going to be.”
Neal said he hopes the shooting doesn’t have a chilling effect on members of Congress holding town hall meetings or other events, but offered there will likely be some changes moving forward.
Those changes, he offered, could include increased security, police presence at district-level events and, in some cases, curtailed activity.
In addition to enhanced security, the congressman said he hopes lawmakers will work to change the tone in American politics, adding that there appears to be “broad agreement” from Republicans and Democrats alike on that front.
“This is not a recent phenomenon, by the way, this has been going on for a long period of time. I’ve seen the deterioration in the manner in which we talk to each other here in Congress and the way that people across the country talk to each other,” he said. “It is, in that sense, I hope not going to be a deterrent from the ability of people to talk to their congressmen.”
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan lauded his congressional colleagues for putting aside partisan politics.
Members from both parties, he added, also appeared to agree that neither side should attempt to take advantage of the shooting for political purposes and cast the incident as an attack on one party versus another.
Neal further said lawmakers, who were briefed by the U.S. House’s Sergeant-at-Arms following Wednesday’s shooting, have been reminded to report threats and call attention to those who may do harm to individuals.
“Oftentimes you will hear a constituent misinterpret the words ‘fair’ from ‘favorable’ — they will often say ‘I’m not treated fairly,’ when they mean they weren’t treated favorably,” he said. “I think that in the age of social media, more and more of the threats go online. As the information is ramped up, it emboldens some of these individuals, who in some cases have not only long cases of criminality, but have some emotional and mental health issues, as well.”
Neal said the suspected gunman apparently had a history with a particular congressional office and was dissatisfied with information he was receiving.
The congressman added that he “seemed to be obsessed, based on his social media history, with Republicans.”
According to several news outlets, the suspect in a Wednesday morning shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandra, Virginia has been identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Illinois. Police have yet to publicly confirm him as the shooter.
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, was shot in the hip when Hodgkinson reportedly opened fire during the baseball practice, the congressman’s office announced Wednesday morning.
Zack Barth, a legislative correspondent in U.S. Rep. Roger Williams’, R-Texas, office; Matt Mika, a Tyson Foods lobbyist; and Capitol Police Officers Special Agent David Bailey and Special Agent Crystal Griner — who helped take down the gunman — were also injured in the incident, according to reports.
Hodgkinson, who reportedly died from his injuries, appeared to have been a member of various anti-Republican groups on Facebook, and posted on social media days before the shooting that President Donald Trump is “the biggest a**hole we have ever had in the Oval Office,” according to news outlets.
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