How Long Will Left Condone Violence?

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(This article first appeared on PennLIVE.com)

Accused Capitol Hill shooter James Hodgkinson walked up to a man leaving the parking lot where Republicans were practicing for the annual charity Congressional baseball game earlier this month, and asked, "Is this the Republican or Democrat baseball team?"

When he was told they were Republicans, Hodgkinson allegedly went to his van and retrieved his rifle and 9 mm handgun. He returned and fired 50 rounds from the rifle and 10 rounds from the handgun at the Republican lawmakers practicing on the field.

He wounded four, nearly killing Republican Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

After the shooting, a note was found on his body containing a "kill list" of the names of six Republican members of Congress.

Within hours of the shooting it was reported all over the Internet that Hodgkinson was a Democrat and Bernie Sanders volunteer, sported a Sanders for President sign in his front yard, and belonged to anti-Republican and anti-Trump Facebook groups such as "Terminate the Republican Party."

Sanders, of Vermont, took to the Senate floor within hours to say he was sickened by the "despicable" shooting.

"I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be: Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms," he said.

Gunman opens fire at GOP baseball practice, injuring top congressman
Gunman opens fire at GOP baseball practice, injuring top congressman
The suspect is in custody.

Still, Hodgkinson posted such Facebook messages as "Trump is a Traitor," "Trump has Destroyed Our Democracy," "It’s Time to Destroy Trump & Co," "The Road to Hell is Paved with Republicans" and "Join the Resistance Worldwide."

A man who encountered him just days before the shooting recounted he launched into a profanity-laden tirade of hate against Trump.

Despite the massive amount of uncontradicted and instantaneously available information on the Internet revealing Hodgkinson was a militant Leftwing Democrat who wanted to do exactly what he wrote on Facebook – terminate President Trump and his fellow Republicans – the FBI is baffled by this shooting and still searching for a "motivation."

Does the FBI have access to the Internet?

Instead of stating the obvious and correctly characterizing this shooting for what it was, the FBI misdirects by offering some silly rationalization such as "He was struggling in all kinds of different ways" and the vacuous assessment that Hodgkinson had "an anger management problem." Really?

Last week, the FBI updated its assessment by characterizing the shooting not for what it was – a mass assassination attempt of Republicans by a Democrat – but instead as just an "assault" with no connection to "terrorism."

What?

This act easily fits the definition of domestic terrorism under the Patriot Act; it involved an act dangerous to human life and appears to be intended to affect the conduct of government by assassination.

Just read the man’s Facebook posts for proof. Hodgkinson was a domestic terrorist. Case closed.

Is it because he’s a Democrat that the FBI will not label him a domestic terrorist? Is this like the FBI referring to its criminal investigation of Democrat Hillary Clinton as not a criminal investigation?

The radical left has a long history of using violence and assassinations to "affect the conduct of the government."

In the early 20th century Democrats, Socialists, unionists and anarchists attempted to kill industrialists, Presidents and even an FBI Director.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Students for Democratic Society, Communists, the Weathermen, the Black Panthers rioted in cities, shut down colleges, bombed police departments and ROTC buildings and assassinated President Kennedy.

The Left today, led by Sanders and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, has become mainstream.

Establishment Democrats such as Hillary Clinton have joined the "Resistance."

Days after his follower allegedly tried to kill Republicans, Sanders urged his followers to "act in an unprecedented way," to "go big," and "fight back [against Trump and Republicans] in every way."

Clinton said the Republican Party is the "Death Party" whose health plan will kill people.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said the Republican healthcare plan will "hurt people," "[Republicans] are coming for you!" and "must be stopped."

Warren urged her followers to, "…act in an unprecedented way," and "…stand up and fight back in every way that you can."

Democratic Congressman John Lewis and the Democratic National Committee declared the Summer of 2017 as the "Summer of Resistance" and promised to "build the Democratic resistance…and help spark a nationwide mobilization against the Trump agenda."

A CNN news anchor once asked Sarah Moore, the leftist who attempted to assassinate President Ford, where she got the idea.

Moore replied, "Everybody was talking about it…In San Francisco people were saying this all the time."

Moore said she tried to kill Ford because he was an illegitimate president; he was "appointed" by a "crook" not elected. At sentencing, Moore said her assassination attempt was "the correct expression of my anger."

CNN, MSNBC and others run 24-hour news coverage of the fake story that Trump is an illegitimate president because he colluded with the Russians to steal the election from Clinton.

Hodgkinson was avid watcher of MSNBC host Rachel Maddow.

Comedienne Kathy Griffin posed with a picture of the decapitated head of President Trump. A character bearing a striking resemblance to the president is mock assassinated in a production of William Shakespeare’s "Julius Caesar."

In that play, Brutus shouts the chilling phrase Sic Semper Tyrannis ("death always to tyrants") as he plunges his dagger into the Roman leader.

The actor Johnny Depp when asked about meeting Trump wryly replied, "When was the last time an actor assassinated a President?"

He continued by saying, "It’s been a while and maybe it’s time."

In 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth shot and killed the Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, and then uttered those infamous words, "Sic Semper Tyrannis!"

Will our Democratic friends continue to push for more?

Marc A. Scaringi, an attorney, is a PennLive Opinion contributor, whose work appears biweekly. He hosts "The Marc Scaringi Show," which airs Saturdays at 12 p.m. on WHP 580 AM in Harrisburg and online at iHeart Radio. He writes from Camp Hill, Pa.