ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — Yesterday, the Republican congressional baseball team was practicing for Thursday’s Congressional Baseball Game for Charity when they were attacked by a lone gunman.  The gunman, James T. Hodgkinson, had reportedly been upset by Trump winning the presidential election.  Illinois native Hodgkinson, age 66, stood behind the dugout on the baseball field and began shooting at the Republican congressional baseball team with an assault rifle.

Hodgkinson shot a storm of bullets, reportedly 50 to 100, during his attack.  He successfully hit four people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.  Scalise was standing on second base when he was shot in the left hip which brought him to the ground.  Everyone scattered and took cover from Hodgkinson’s attack.

It took about three minutes for the police to arrive and to attempt to engage with Hodgkinson.  Hodgkinson was shot by the police and later died.  Scalise, age 51, was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition.  The shot to his hip “fractured bones, injured internal organs and caused severe bleeding”, according to NBC news.

This attack seems to have caused something that America has not seen in a while: unity.  From talk show hosts to political party members, everyone has put their differences aside and has unified in their compassion and shock through this unfortunate event.  Some of the people to speak out in hope were Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, Stephen Colbert, and the president himself.

Pelosi and Ryan addressed the House of Representatives after the shooting.

Pelosi stated that “We will use this occasion as one that brings us together and not separates us further.”

Ryan then followed expressing in his speech that “We are united in our shock. We are united in our anguish. And an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.”

Stephen Colbert opened his late night show with a unifying speech that not only applauded Pelosi and Ryan’s speeches, but also commended President Trumps actions which is not a common occurrence.  Colbert began his monologue by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, before we get started, I just want to take a moment to talk about the attack today in Alexandria. Once again, we’re all shocked in mind and soul by a mass shooting, this time targeting, apparently, a Republican congressmen. And I pray to God that everyone pulls through. Violence of any kind is never justified and is the last refuge of the incompetent… So I just want to say thank you to the congressional leadership and to the president for responding to this act of terror in a way that gives us hope that whatever our differences, we will always be the United States of America. Thank you for that.”

Here is the President’s full speech below

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNsa5yCFTkw\[/embed\]

It is quite refreshing after a season of such division, that America can, even for a moment, come together and see people not based on their political party labels, but instead as fellow citizens who deserve the same amount of peace and safety.