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House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and other GOP lawmakers asked FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday to further investigate the 2017 congressional baseball practice shooting and determine why agents originally concluded it was a case of "suicide by cop" rather than an act of domestic terrorism.
Scalise, R-La., was nearly killed and others were severely injured after gunman James Hodgkinson opened fire on Republican lawmakers and others on site for the 2017 baseball practice. In a letter to Wray, the lawmakers noted that the FBI initially found that Hodgkinson had a history of making anti-GOP remarks on social media and compiled a "potential hit list" with the names of six Republican lawmakers.
"We fear that the FBI’s inability or unwillingness to fully investigate this shooting as a matter of domestic extremism four years ago leaves a blind spot within the Bureau in fully assessing risks we face today," the letter says. "The FBI telling us that James Hodgkinson’s attempt to assassinate dozens of members of Congress was simply ‘suicide by cop’ does nothing to alleviate this concern."
While the FBI did not publicly disclose its conclusion, officials told GOP lawmakers at a November 2017 briefing that the shooting was designated a "suicide by cop." Wray was not serving as FBI director at the time of the briefing.
Scalise and other survivors say the shooting was a targeted attack based on political motivations.
"Classifying the Congressional baseball attack by a leftist gunman with a hit list of Republicans as 'suicide by cop' is offensive & inaccurate," Scalise wrote on Twitter. "Those of us who were actually shot at demand a review of how that absurd conclusion was reached."
In 2017, Virginia state attorney Bryan Porter described the shooting as an "act of terrorism" that was "fueled by rage against Republican legislators." The Department of Homeland Security and the office of the Director of National Intelligence also designated the event an act of domestic terrorism.
The lawmakers noted that Hodgkinson had asked whether the lawmakers on the field were Republicans or Democrats before opening fire. Hodgkinson died following a shootout with security at the scene.
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"Director Wray, you stated at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) hearing on April 15, 2021, that 'the FBI’s reputation is something that matters deeply' to you. It matters to us, too. And it matters to the American people," the letter added.
"That is why we ask that you review the FBI’s findings of the 2017 attack, interview all witnesses who were present that morning, update the conclusions of the FBI’s investigation, if warranted, and publicly release the findings. We also urge you to conduct an internal investigation into how the FBI reached the conclusion of 'suicide by cop' and who was behind that process and determination."
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