FBI Claims Attempted GOP Assassinations Are ‘Assault’ — NOT Terrorism
According to the Daily Caller report above, The FBI is treating the attempted mass assassination of Republican lawmakers as “assault” and not terrorism, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Andrew Vale announced at a press conference Tuesday morning.
“At this time the FBI has assessed that the deceased shooter, James T. Hodgkinson, acted alone. We also assess that there was no nexus to terrorism. The FBI is investigating the shooting as an assault of a member of Congress and assault on a law enforcement officer,” Vale said.
“The FBI has long-defined terrorism as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives…”
Uh, well, duh…? How does this not meet such criterion?
Hodgkinson took photos of various monuments and government buildings, including the Supreme Court and “inside the visitor’s entrance of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.”
“At this point in the investigation, the FBI does not believe that these photographs represented surveillance of intended targets, however, we continue to learn more about Hodgkinson’s recent activities,” the press release stated.
The 66-year-old Hodgkinson, a left-wing Bernie Sanders supporter, frequently espoused angry rhetoric on social media and belonged to anti-Republican groups on Facebook, including one called “Terminate The Republican Party.” The members of that group celebrated Hodgkinson’s attempt at murdering Republican congressmen that left four people wounded including Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, who was on the verge of death.
“Hodgkinson made numerous posts on all of his social media accounts espousing anti-Republican views, although all of the posts reviewed thus far appear to be First Amendment-protected speech,” the press release stated.
Related reading:
The FBI’s Briefing On The GOP Baseball Shooting Couldn’t Have Been More Bizarre
The FBI tried to claim that the shooting at the baseball field was spontaneous and had no target, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Data Shows Media Covered Gabby Giffords Shooting Twice As Much As Steve Scalise Shooting
In the week after each shooting incident, newspapers nationwide ran more than twice as many articles mentioning Rep. Gabrielle Giffords as they have Rep. Steve Scalise, according to Lexis Nexis’s news database.
DLH
