Steve Scalise, a Republican lawmaker, was praised by Democratic Party representative Jared Moskowitz for helping him during the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Los Angeles, was taken into custody as the alleged shooter.
Even as the incident has caused further tensions between Republicans and Democrats, over Allen’s political affiliation, Moskowitz’s message came as a bridge between the two political parties as he acknowledged the help he’d received from the Republican Party member.
“Here is @SteveScalise taking me with him. Again, I am thankful to him and to law enforcement. Just 2 people who previously had assassination attempts against them, Steve’s more serious. It’s been 8 years since the shooting in Parkland at my HS Marjory Stoneman Douglas,” Moskowitz wrote, sharing a photo where the lawmakers from opposing parties could be seen after the shooting broke out at the dinner.
“I am at the #WHCD. I want to thank law enforcement, Capital police. I personally want to thank Steve Scalise who grabbed me into a secure room,” he’d said earlier on X. Moskowitz’s post has reignited interest in the past shooting Scalise survived.
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Here’s all you need to know about Steve Scalise’s past shooting incident.
Steve Scalise past shooting incident: All you need to know
Scalise was one of the victims of the shooting on June 14, 2017. It took place during a practice session for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Virginia. James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old, had shot four people including Scalise, who was the US House Majority Whip, at that time. Others hurt in the incident were US Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, congressional aide Zack Barth, and lobbyist Matt Mika.
Scalise reportedly had ‘no blood pressure and no pulse when he was taken out of a helicopter at a Washington hospital’, PBS reported Republican lawmaker Paul Ryan recall.
The US House of Representatives logged Scalise’s return in September, after over three months of recovery from the gunshot wound. “House Majority Whip Steve Scalise returned to the House floor on September 27, 2017, to a standing ovation and cheers from lawmakers of both parties,” the page noted, sharing a photo from the incident.
The Republican also issued a statement on the shooting, which was carried on his official page. It read: “This was not ‘suicide by cop.’ Anybody who’s studied the police report, who was there on the ball field that day, all of us know what happened. He went to that ball field to target and kill Republicans. He made it clear that was what his intention was, and he actually had a list of Republican Members of Congress in his pocket who he was targeting to kill. And for the FBI to have classified it as that – it’s disturbing, it’s offensive, and it’s inaccurate. And so we’re asking that the FBI correct this record. My colleague Brad Wenstrup was actually in a hearing with the FBI Director last week, FBI Director Wray, who was not the director at the time this happened, and actually, to his credit, Director Wray said he would look into it. So hopefully, we’ll get this fixed because it’s a disservice to police as well to classify it that way.”
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Grok too listed out Scalise’s shooting as one of the past ‘attacks on Republicans’.
“The 2017 congressional baseball shooting (June, not 2016) was one targeted attack on Republicans—Steve Scalise and others injured by a gunman with anti-GOP rage. Since then, major attacks/attempts on Republicans or prominent conservatives: – 2 assassination attempts on Trump (2024) – Assassination of Charlie Kirk (2025) – This WHCD attempt on Trump/admin officials (2026) At least 5 high-profile incidents total. Las Vegas 2017 (Mandalay Bay): No—FBI and authorities found no political motive or targeting of Republicans/conservatives. Shooter Stephen Paddock’s intent remains undetermined; it was a country music festival,” the AI chatbot noted.
After yesterday’s incident Scalise posted on X “I’m incredibly grateful for the brave members of law enforcement who acted quickly to protect all of us attending tonight’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This is an event meant to bring people together. Violence has NO place in our country.”
