Republican congressman Steve Scalise underwent more surgery yesterday (June 15th) and remained in critical condition, one day after being shot in the hip when an attacker opened fire as Republican lawmakers practiced for an annual charity baseball game. The attacker, James Hodgkinson, was killed by Capitol police officers in Scalise's security detail. MedStar Washington Hospital Center said Scalise had improved over the previous 24 hours, but will require even more operations, and will be in the hospital "for some time." The FBI continued to investigate Hodgkinson's activities leading up to the attack, saying they had so far not linked him to any radical groups. Hodgkinson has been strongly critical on social media of President Trump and Republicans.
The annual charity baseball game between congressional Republicans and Democrats went on as planned last night, but was played in Scalise's honor. The team members knelt and offered a prayer for him, and David Bailey, one of the two Capitol police officers who took down Hodgkinson and was wounded, got a hero's welcome from the crowd of nearly 25,000 as he threw out the first pitch. The Democrats won 11-2, but in the night's spirit of unity, they gave the trophy to the Republicans to put in Scalise's office on the Democrats' behalf.