A Republican congressman, who was present when a mass shooter attacked a Republican baseball team practice session and nearly killed GOP Rep. Steve Scalise, claims that Republicans may be retiring from office because they’re afraid of being assassinated.
Speaking to the Dale Jackson show, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) recalled the shooting, speaking frankly about security measures that Congress has been forced to put in place, and the uptick in violence he says has accompanied a sharp decline in partisan discourse.
“We have multiple rings of security, plainclothes, uniform, Capitol Police, other police,” Brooks said about the first several practices, already being held for this years Congressional baseball game. “There was a medical vehicle nearby just in case there was a copycat.”
Referring to the GOP’s swath of upcoming retirements, Brooks opined, “One of the things that’s concerning me is the assassination risk may become a factor.”
“You have to wonder with that kind of disproportionate retirement number whether what happened in June played a factor,” he continued.
Although the suggestion sounds extreme, Brooks pointed out that at least three members of Congress have had to call in law enforcement over threats made against them and their families in the last several months. He noted that none of the expected retirees would dare say violence is among the reasons they’re leaving office, but that the rise in violent rhetoric is hard to miss, especially coming from what Brooks refers to as the “Bernie Sanders wing” of the Democratic party.
It has been nearly a year since Rep. Steve Scalise was left fighting for his life, and several Capitol Police officers were injured after a gunman, motivated by his hatred for Republicans and, in particular, President Donald Trump, targeted congressmen playing a pickup game of baseball in a field near Reagan National Airport. Brooks helped tend to the injured Scalise while the group waited for emergency medical care to arrive.