Violent nutcasery runs along a different axis than specific political beliefs (as does authoritarianism). While I know a lot of folk who hold similar political beliefs to the suspected shooter (indeed, I hold a lot of the same positions as he reportedly did), none of them advocate violent, murderous activities to pursue those beliefs, any more than they would support the past domestic violence he was charged with perpetrating.
I've seen "terrorism" thrown around in conjunction with this. Political violence is not necessarily terrorism (though ti often is), and we need to know more about what specifically he was trying to do in this shooting. Regardless of the motive, these sorts of actions are unacceptable and wrong.
Saying so, unfortunately, will not fend off the fringe folk on the Right already cackling gleefully over how "see, liberals are violent killers."
Who Is James T. Hodgkinson? – The Atlantic
The 66-year-old from Illinois has been identified by multiple outlets, citing law-enforcement sources, as the gunman who attacked a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia.
The prevalence of domestic violence in most mass shootings is something we almost never acknowledge. Ugh.
And yep, holding much of the same political views, criticisms, etc. But never booked for DV, never described as throwing my daughter around in the car or terrorizing my girlfriend…
It is an ancient truth that there is a tweet for every occasion:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1sRsjX8ziblrSZNn_EgRD2EuKx13IOMpC4GUwmNkyAIgBPe68_SYIDWfjl9hcaUkJI7lSIItPA
+Travis Bird Ugh.