Emerging portrait of shooting suspect James T. Hodgkinson

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Emerging portrait of shooting suspect James T. Hodgkinson: Anti-Trump rhetoric on social media, repeat visits to YMCA near Virginia ballfield

By Ann E. Marimow, Patricia Sullivan, Shawn Boburg and Tom Jackman June 14 at 2:52 PM

For weeks, James T. Hodgkinson sat in the lobby of the YMCA in Alexandria, focused on his laptop and carrying a gym bag, but never working out. His perch looked on to the field where the Republican baseball team had been practicing daily for about two months.

On Wednesday, one of the gym regulars said Hodgkinson was there again at 7 a.m. By 7:09, he had left the building and was firing dozens of rounds at the congressional team, wounding five people before being shot dead by police.
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... {B}y early April, Hodgkinson was seen drinking Budweiser and watching golf at a barbecue joint in the Del Ray neighborhood and sitting most nights on a bench near a Walgreens smoking or reading. At the Y, he had become a fixture who drew notice but not suspicions, appearing friendly to some and as a “sourpuss” or odd to others.
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Kurt Shillinger and Eric Habert in Belleville, Ill., contributed to this report.

Ann covers legal affairs in the District and Maryland for the Washington Post. Ann previously covered state government and politics in California, New Hampshire and Maryland. She joined the Post in 2005.
Follow @amarimow

Patricia Sullivan covers government, politics and other regional issues in Arlington County and Alexandria. She worked in Illinois, Florida, Montana and California before joining the Post in November 2001.
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Shawn Boburg is an accountability reporter for the Metro Section. He joined The Washington Post in 2015.
Follow @ShawnBoburg

Tom Jackman has been covering criminal justice for The Post since 1998, and now anchors the new "True Crime" blog.
Follow @TomJackmanWP

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. After shooting at GOP baseball practice, investigators probe attacker's trail of political anger

Local
After shooting at GOP baseball practice, investigators probe trail of political anger left by attacker

By Dana Hedgpeth and Peter Hermann June 15 at 8:30 AM

Law enforcement officials worked Thursday to piece together the final nomadic months of the shooter whose anger toward President Trump apparently erupted in a rage of gunfire that left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others wounded on a baseball field.
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On Thursday morning, FBI agents swarmed through the Alexandria neighborhood. The baseball field, a parking lot and nearby YMCA facility remained closed, as did some streets in the area.
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Hodgkinson, who had been living in his van in Alexandria for the past few months, had posted anti-Trump rhetoric on his Facebook page and had written letters to his hometown newspaper blaming Republicans for what he considered an agenda favoring the wealthy.
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Amber Phillips, Paul Kane, Tom Jackman and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.

Dana Hedgpeth is a Post reporter, working the early morning, reporting on traffic, crime and other local issues. Follow @postmetrogirl

Peter Hermann covers crime for The Washington Post. Follow @phscoop