From May 18, 2021 post.
Congressman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), issued the following statement after the Federal Bureau of Investigation updated its designation of the 2017 Congressional Baseball Team shooting from “suicide by cop” to an incident of domestic terrorism under the umbrella of domestic violent extremism. This update is included in the May 2021 joint FBI and Department of Homeland Security report titled “Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism.”
“Our intelligence and law enforcement apparatuses require accuracy, precision, and justice. I’m encouraged that the FBI has updated its classification of that nearly catastrophic event to reflect the actual motives of the assailant, and I commend Director Wray for his oversight of that correction,” said Congressman Wenstrup. “I will continue to work with the Bureau toward investigating what led to the original 'suicide by cop' determination.”
Background:
On June 14, 2017, an unhinged gunman opened fire on the Republican Congressional Baseball Team’s practice at Simpson Field in Alexandria, VA. During the events, two individuals were hit, including Republican Whip Steve Scalise, who was shot in the hip. Congressman Brad Wenstrup, a doctor and Iraq War veteran, was the first to reach Scalise and provide medical attention. He was later credited with saving Scalise’s life and was subsequently awarded the Soldier’s Medal by the Army for bravery demonstrated on the field that day.
In November 2017, the FBI held a briefing for members of the baseball team who were present at the field during the shooting. During that briefing, an FBI briefer told members of the team that the Bureau’s investigation concluded the shooter’s motives to be “suicide by cop.”
During an open HPSCI hearing on April 15, 2021, Congressman Wenstrup asked FBI Director Wray how the FBI had reached that determination. He sent a formal letter calling on the Bureau to open a new investigation into the shooting, as many, if not all, of the congressional shooting witnesses were not interviewed by the FBI. He also requested that the FBI conduct an internal review of what led to the original determination.
Congressman Wenstrup sent a follow-up letter with Republican Whip Steve Scalise and 15 members who were either present on the field or named on the shooter’s potential “hit list.”
On May 14, 2021, FBI Director Wray called Congressman Wenstrup to give him an advanced notice that the FBI would be sending a formal response informing him that the FBI considers the shooter’s motives to be “domestic violent extremism.”
Additional Background:
Congressman Brad Wenstrup represents Ohio’s Second Congressional District. He is a surgeon and serves as a colonel in the United States Army Reserve, where he serves at Walter Reed Medical Center and serves as Medical Policy Advisor at the Office of the Chief of the Army Reserve.
Original source can be found here.
