A Congressional Baseball Practice Tainted By Gunfire
In March 2017, James Thomas Hodgkinson began an unraveling process in Bellevue, Illinois. He had allowed his home inspection license to expire and he couldn’t sustain the adhesive that glued his existence and perspective intact. His marriage of 30 years was disintegrating.
He left Bellevue, began living in his van and relocated to Alexandria, Virginia in early May 2017. He frequently parked near the YMCA where he used their shower facilities for hygiene. The YMCA was located across the street from the local Eugene Simpson Stadium baseball field.
He was low on finances and vainly seeking employment. His increasingly desperate circumstances reflect a growing demographic segment of the chronically unemployable. There is no political party or competent social services capable of espousing or eradicating their plight. Hodgkinson remained politically active during his personal turmoil writing newspaper editorials and developing an intense loathing towards the Republican Party based on his perception of their racist and sexist policies.
The public perception towards James Thomas Hodgkinson as a harmless eccentric changed radically on the early morning of June 14, 2017. Each year elected senators, congressmen and staff members set aside their ideological differences and participate in the Congressional Baseball Game For Charity.
Twenty-four Republican team members organized a 6:30 a.m. practice session that Wednesday morning at Eugene Stadium Park. Then Congressman Ron DeSantis confirmed to Hodgkinson following an informal question that the Republican team had reserved the space for that session. Hodgkinson returned to the ballfield at 7:09 a.m. armed with an SKS rifle and 9 mm Smith & Wesson. He began firing the rifle immediately. He wounded six individuals including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, one of his primary targets. Scalise was shot in the hip near second base and attempted to drag himself off the field. He was aided by some of his peers.
Two of the officers protecting Scalise, David Bailey and Crystal Griner rushed onto the playing field to protect the players and any civilian spectators. They directed their fire towards a fleeing Hodgkinson resulting in him stationing himself inside the third base dugout. Griner was shot in the ankle and Bailey sustained a minor injury unrelated to the gunfire.
The fusillade between Hodgkinson and the two officers would last ten minutes with an estimated 50-100 rounds exchanged. While being pinned down by gunfire, Hodgkinson was unable to target additional unarmed victims. He would be severely wounded and then transported to George Washington University Hospital where he died from his injuries.
The purpose of the attack remained vague rumored only by Hodgkinson acknowledged political hatred, His outrage solved nothing. The annual Congressional match continues today.