Hodgkinson's brother: He was "distraught" over Trump's election

I think we’ve got a solid handle on motive at this point, but in case you’re making a list, here’s Exhibit Z in the case that he was out to kill Republicans.

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The man suspected of opening fire on Republican members of the congressional baseball team early Wednesday morning was distraught over the election of President Trump and traveled to Washington in recent weeks to protest, his brother said on Wednesday…

“I know he wasn’t happy with the way things were going, the election results and stuff,” his brother, Michael Hodgkinson, said in a telephone interview shortly after he received the news on Wednesday. He added that he was not close to his brother and had not been aware why he remained in Washington…

According to the Saint Clair County Clerk’s Office, where Mr. Hodgkinson is registered to vote, he has repeatedly elected to vote in Democratic primaries in recent years. There was no party affiliation listed on his voter file.

What was the specific catalyst for a rampage now, though? According to the manager of the local YMCA, where Hodgkinson used to work out, he was in the gym before 7 a.m. today. When you’re about to open fire on a bunch of congressman, all but guaranteeing your death, is it really a priority to make sure your delts look as cut as possible? Meanwhile, a question: Had this nut ever threatened the president himself? Trump is the lightning rod for all progressive rage. Maybe Hodgkinson turned towards targeting congressman simply because Trump was too difficult a target to reach. I wonder if we’re going to find out that the Secret Service paid him a visit at some point and concluded he was harmless. The people around him seem to have come to that conclusion too.

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Here’s Hodgkinson blathering about the 99 percent in an Occupy Wall Street protest in 2011:

And here’s his handiwork today. Listen to see just how long the shots went on. (Some were return fire from Capitol Police, of course.) I wonder if he ended up being pinned down by the cops and unable to advance on the wounded. If they hadn’t been there, murder would have been as simple as walking out onto the field and executing the wounded, starting with Steve Scalise.

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