Trump honors first responders in attack

President Donald Trump presented the Medal of Valor on Thursday to five of the first responders who were injured in a shooting at a congressional baseball practice last month that critically wounded Rep. Steve Scalise.

The three Alexandria, Va., police officers and the two U.S. Capitol Police officers received a standing ovation when they entered the East Room at the White House.

The officers responded when heavily armed gunman James Hodgkinson opened fire on a baseball field in Alexandria where the Republican lawmakers and their staffers were practicing for an annual charity baseball game against Democrats. They engaged in a firefight with Hodgkinson, who was fatally wounded.

Scalise, the House Majority Whip, was discharged from a Washington hospital on Wednesday and faces months of rehabilitation.

”These officers saved the lives of every innocent person on the field that day,” Trump told the audience Thursday, calling them “real heroes whose courageous action under fire saved so many lives.”

The honorees were special agents David Bailey, Crystal Griner, and officers Nicole Battaglia, Kevin Jobe, and Alexander Jensen. Griner stood on crutches as Trump draped the medal around her neck.

”They raced through the bullets,” Trump said. “That’s exactly what they did. They raced through the bullets and immediately engaged the gunman.”

Scalise said in a statement Thursday, “I cannot think of a group of individuals more deserving of this award.”