Shooter’s post: ‘Time to destroy Trump’
The 66-yearold Illinois man who fired early Wednesday on members of Congress practicing for a charity baseball game, raged against President Trump and had singled out House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who was wounded in the attack.
“Here’s a Republican that should lose his job, but they gave him a raise,” James T. Hodgkinson purportedly wrote in 2015 in a post to his Facebook account, referring to the Louisiana congressman. The message was accompanied by a cartoon depiction of Scalise.
Along with Scalise, who remains in critical condition, Hodgkinson shot and wounded Capitol Hill police officers Crystal Griner and David Bailey, House staff member Zach Barth and Tyson Foods lobbyist Matt Mika.
Federal authorities hadn’t determined whether the assault targeted members of Congress. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., raised the prospect that the incident may have been politically motivated, saying a man who matched Hodgkinson’s description approached him and others in the parking lot of the baseball field to ask whether the practice involved Republicans or Democrats.
Hodgkinson, who had a lengthy arrest record, died at a hospital from multiple gunshot wounds after officers returned fire on the rifle-wielding home
inspection contractor from Belleville, Ill.
In a Facebook post March 22, Hodgkinson turned his ire against Trump, whom he described as a “traitor.”
“Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy,” the post said. “It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co.”
In a post this week, the suspect highlighted a campaign calling for the president’s impeachment.
“Trump is Guilty & Should Go to Prison for Treason,” Hodgkinson wrote.
Illinois business records show the suspect owned JTH Inspections, which he claimed to have operated for more than 30 years.
“I have past licenses in construction, roofing, electrical, septic, appraisals and more,” Hodgkinson said. “I am a certified member of the American Society of Home Inspectors. I adhere to all of their standards of practice and codes of ethics. I am also a proud member of the International Association of Certified Indoor Air Consultants.”
An official statement from the American Society of Home Inspectors said Hodgkinson’s membership ended in 2015.
CRIMINAL RECORD
Hodgkinson had a record of arrests on various criminal charges dating back to 1988, according to St. Clair County, Ill., Circuit Court documents.
The charges ranged from minor driving offenses and repeated failures to obtain work permits to battery and driving under the influence.
Records show that the battery case in 2006, which resulted in his arrest, was dismissed after a period of “supervision.”
Hodgkinson’s arrest in 1992 by Illinois State Police for suspicion of resisting and obstructing a peace officer also was dismissed.
None of the offenses involved a weapon.
St. Clair County, Ill., Sheriff Richard Watson, whose deputies assisted federal investigators in a search of the gunman’s Belleville home, said deputies last encountered Hodgkinson on March 24, when a neighbor reported gunshots fired in the area.
The sheriff said deputies arrived to find Hodgkinson with a hunting rifle on his property where he was apparently engaged in target practice.
“The guy was very cordial,” the sheriff said. “He showed the deputy his firearms identification card. Even though he was on his own property, he told the deputy that he probably should take the rifle to a gun range, just to be safe.”
At no time, Watson said, did Hodgkinson’s behavior appear erratic or threatening.
Watson said he learned of Hodgkinson’s connection to the Virginia shooting shortly after 9:30 a.m., when he arrived at the department for a meeting.
“I about fell out of my chair,” Watson said, adding that authorities began to search their files for records of contacts with the shooter.
Neighbor Bill Schaumleffel said he had few interactions with Hodgkinson in the more than 15 years they lived near each other. He alerted the sheriff in March to gunfire near the Hodgkinson home.
Schaumleffel said he became concerned when he saw Hodgkinson shooting a rifle behind the house.
Schaumleffel said he yelled for Hodgkinson to stop the gunfire, but his neighbor apparently didn’t hear, so Schaumleffel’s wife, Karen, hustled their children into their house.
“I decided to call the the sheriff, because I didn’t want to risk going over there and getting into a big argument with him,” Schaumleffel said. “In all those years, we didn’t really have that much interaction with him.”
CONTEMPT FOR GOP POLITICS
At home in Belleville, Hodgkinson, an ardent supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, made no effort to hide a simmering contempt for Republican politics. In a series of letters to the
Belleville News-Democrat in 2012, the gunman offered scathing critiques of GOP policies, focusing largely on tax issues.
“I have never said ‘life sucks,’ only the policies of the Republicans,” he wrote Aug. 28, 2012. The next month, he cited The
Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC as one of his favorite television programs, adding that a recent show highlighted the contributions of 17 wealthy donors to the Republican Party. “These men are trying to buy our country,” he wrote. “You know they expect something for all this money.”
On Facebook, he took particular aim at Trump and the president’s family.
Donald Johnson of Ann Arbor, Mich., said he became Facebook friends with the suspect in February. “He seemed kind of extreme,” Johnson said, referring to him as a “Bernie-bot.”
Timothy Slater, who leads the FBI’s investigation, said authorities believe the suspect arrived in the area in March and had been living out of a white cargo van.
Hodgkinson frequented the Alexandria YMCA, adjacent to the baseball field, for more than a month, former Alexandria mayor Bill Euille said.
Euille said he regularly encountered the man in the lobby of the YMCA, sitting at a table drinking coffee and using his laptop computer. Hodgkinson asked Euille about restaurants. There were “never any signs or indications that something was troubling him,” Euille said.
“This morning, he just became a different person,” Euille said.