The assassination attempt

Here's what I've learned

I was certain that my Zoom call with President Biden was going to be the big thing that happened on Saturday.

I’m a freshman member of Congress, which means I don’t know the president personally, I don’t have a direct line to him, and the times I see him are at ceremonial events.

But now he’s making the rounds and meeting with different groups to try and address all of the concern that’s erupted since the debate.

I got an invitation to be part of one of those meetings (along with several dozen other members), which was just a normal Zoom call except that, after waiting for a few minutes, the president popped up on the screen. 

He gave some remarks, took some questions, and didn’t say anything that he hasn’t said publicly.

After it ended, I started writing an early draft of this email. I went into a lot of detail about a vote we had last week to use the “inherent contempt” power of Congress for the first time in about 100 years to fine the Attorney General $10,000 a day, and how that vote failed because both parties are too nervous to revive this long-dead power of Congress to summarily fine and/or arrest people. The temptation to abuse that power would simply be too strong.

I was struggling a bit to explain the vote in a way that conveyed its significance… and then there was an assassination attempt against the former president.

I’ve spent the last 36 hours focused solely on that, learning as much as I could, speaking with other members of Congress, and getting a sense of what comes next. 

As you may have seen, there are a ton of conspiracy theories flying around social media. It’s really important that we at least begin to approach this seismic event with something resembling a shared set of facts, so I’m going to use the rest of this email to share what I’ve learned in the last 36 hours.

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The shooter was positioned on a rooftop 148 yards away. 

The roof was just outside of the security perimeter established by the Secret Service. In other words, they had not secured that location.

They did have a counter sniper in place who spotted the shooter before he opened fire and had his rifle aimed at him, which is why the shooter was taken down within three seconds of his first shot.

The shooter was 20 years old. He used an AR-15 variant that was registered to his father. He had two explosive devices in his car. He had a full-time job at a nursing home and no criminal record.

In addition to wounding the former president, he injured several others and killed a father who was using his body to shield his family.

Congress has already announced a full investigation, including into the planning and performance of the Secret Service. The investigation will probably be done by the Oversight Committee, which is kind of bad news because it’s the most partisan committee in Congress so we have to hope this will be treated differently.

There are a lot of security conversations happening in Congress right now about this. One of the unique risks associated with political violence is that it can trigger retaliation and create a spiral.

But the truth is, even a single act of political violence leaves an indelible stain on a country.

That’s why you’ll hear nearly every elected official, from both parties, condemn this. For the vast majority of Congress, I expect this to be a moment of seriousness and solidarity.

You will see some exceptions. Some extreme members are going to say some crazy stuff to get your attention. Please do your best not to give it to them. You know the drill with those folks.

Two parting thoughts:

First, as you can see with this email, I’m trying to be a little more proactive about addressing the tidal wave of conspiracy theories that now follows all major national incidents. But misinformation is largely being spread on social media - not email - so here’s my attempt to be a source of decent information, if you care to watch:

Second, we should simply acknowledge that we are experiencing one of the darkest chapters of American politics that any of us has ever lived through - but we are going to get through it. 

We can still write the next chapter in a way that makes us proud. We are an extremely powerful country and a good people and our union shall endure, as we endeavor toward its perfection.

More on that soon, and I will keep you posted.

Best,

Jeff Jackson