From Pettis to Giffords, a history of shot lawmakers
WASHINGTON — The shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise at a congressional baseball practice Wednesday in Alexandria, Va., is the latest in a history of lawmakers being attacked.
Violence against members of Congress has occurred repeatedly since the country’s founding. Fourteen lawmakers have been killed, nearly a dozen more wounded. In the early days, some congressmen initiated the violence.
Among the most highprofile incidents:
Aug. 28, 1831: Spencer Pettis, a House member from Missouri, is shot and killed in a duel with Thomas Biddle, an Army officer. The location was on an appropriately named Mississippi River sandbar: Bloody Island. They had been squabbling for months over the U.S. Bank in Philadelphia, which was run by Biddle’s brother. They sniped at each other in letters to the editor. At one point, Biddle called Pettis a “dish of skimmed milk.” They decided to duel, a fatal decision for both men.
Oct. 22, 1868: James Hinds, a House member from Arkansas, was assassinated by a Ku Klux Klan member. Hinds was a supporter of Reconstruction after the Civil War. Hinds was heading for a speech to support Ulysses S. Grant, when KKK member George Clark fired at him. Clark fled. Hewas never found.
Sept. 8, 1935: Senator Huey Long served for less than four years, becoming famous for his lengthy filibusters. He had big plans and an iron fist in Louisiana politics. “Huey’s consolidation of personal power led to talk of armed insurrection by his enemies,” according to the Long Legacy Project. There was an unsuccessful drive-by shooting of his house. Long wanted to “gerrymander opponent Judge Benjamin Pavy out of his job.” Pavy’s son-in-law shot him. He died two days later.
June 5, 1968: Moments after claiming victory in California’s Democratic primary, Sen. Robert Kennedy of New York was shot in the head at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Kennedy began to shake the hand of a kitchen worker, and walk forward, when Sirhan Sirhan, 24, a Jordanian immigrant, began firing fromhis revolver.
Jan. 8, 2011: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was one of several people shot outside a Safeway in Tucson by Jared Lee Loughner. Giffords was one of the 13 injured who survived the attack; six others were killed.