Free Republic

Alexandria shooter James Hodgkinson lived out of a gym bag and hung out for the past month-and-a-half at the YMCA across the street from where he opened fire, according to a report Wednesday. Bill Euille, former mayor of Alexandria, said he and Hodgkinson spoke almost every day at the Y, where the alleged gunman would be seen working on his laptop, the Washington Post reported. “He was a very friendly person. But what I did notice about this gentleman is he’d open up his gym bag and in it, he had everything he owned,” said Euille, who lost his re-election...

Problematic, in a very big way even if the offer was made.Qatar’s ties to Al Qaeda and ISIS aren’t news. They’ve effectively served as intermediaries in everything from ransom exchanges for hostages to Taliban negotiations. But actually trying to secure terrorist swaps for prisoners on their own behalf would have been a new frontier. Before he was released from a U.S. maximum-security prison last week, a confessed al Qaeda sleeper agent was offered up in a potential prisoner swap that would have freed two Americans held abroad.According to two individuals with direct knowledge of the case, the proposition was...

Shortened title. Full title: Congressional shooter James Hodgkinson was abusive alcoholic, foster daughter told judge before her overdose death Teenager Cathy Rainbolt told a judge her foster father hit her in the face when she failed to mow the lawn correctly. She got hit in the face when she argued. She got hit and dragged by the hair when she tried to get away. Her foster father was James "Tom" Hodgkinson, who is now infamous after shooting U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, two police officers and a staffer on a Virginia ballfield Wednesday. Rainbolt told the judge that Hodgkinson...