Law enforcement officers have reportedly identified James Hodgkinson, of Belleville, Illinois, as the alleged shooter who opened fire on a Virginia baseball field on Wednesday morning, injuring several people including Rep. Steve Scalise (R-L.a.).
President Donald Trump said in an address on Wednesday morning that Hodgkinson has died from injuries he sustained as part of the attack.
Hodkinson was a licensed home inspector in the early 1990s, the Belleville News-Democrat, a local news outlet, reported.
People online were quick to point that liberal rhetoric was to blame for Wednesday’s shooting, and Hodgkinson’s Facebook posts are not likely to quell any of their fervor—as many people flocked to his Facebook page to post about their hopes of him getting the death penalty, dying in prison, or being tortured.
While people were commenting on Hodgkinson’s Facebook, others targeted what is believed to be his wife’s page, telling her that she should be “ashamed” and saying that they “bet” she was “real proud of yer asshat now.”
Hodgkinson, clearly a supporter of former Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, posted numerous posts railing against President Trump.
“I want to say Mr. President, for being an asshole you are truly the biggest asshole we have ever had in the Oval Office,” he wrote two days ago next to a link recounting Trump’s meeting where cabinet members took turns praising him.
On the same day, Hodkinson posted that Trump was guilty of treason and should “go to prison.”
The Belleville News-Democrat said Hodgkinson also expressed his political leanings in person. In 2012, he took part in a protest outside of the post office in Belleville, calling himself part of the “99 percent.”
In a photo taken by the news outlet at the 2012 rally, Hodgkinson held a sign that read: “TAX the Rich Like Congress Did for 70 Years Till Reagan’s ‘Trickle Down.’ We need ’20 Brackets – $20 million.”
The Washington Post spoke with an acquaintance of Hodgkinson who worked with him on Sanders’ presidential campaign.
The man, Charles Orear, described Hodgkinson as a “quiet guy” who canvassed for the senator.
“He was this union tradesman, pretty stocky, and we stayed up talking politics,” Orear told the newspaper. “He was more on the really progressive side of things.”
Sanders issued a statement about Hodgkinson and his involvement with the campaign.
“Let me be as clear as I can be,” the senator’s statement read. “Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.”
Bernie Sanders says the VA shooter ‘apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign’: ‘ I am sickened by this despicable act’ pic.twitter.com/Qbyc4PnXLm
— Dan Merica (@merica) June 14, 2017
