--- title: Mo Brooks Uses Audio From Congressional Shooting in Ad description: The Alabama Congressman used sounds from the shooting that left Majority Whip Steve Scalise seriously injured in a new campaign ad. canonical: https://time.com/4871457/mo-brooks-ad-congressional-baseball-shooting/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-24T19:30:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:42:19.486Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republican Congressman Uses Audio from Baseball Shooting in Ad og:description: Steve Scalise's chief of staff said the ad "makes my stomach turn." og:url: https://time.com/4871457/mo-brooks-ad-congressional-baseball-shooting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc677dbffcdcab11a/6988d1a4bc6cfcc01b3e1d56/virginia-shooting1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: Congressman Shot og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republican Congressman Uses Audio from Baseball Shooting in Ad twitter:description: Steve Scalise's chief of staff said the ad "makes my stomach turn." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc677dbffcdcab11a/6988d1a4bc6cfcc01b3e1d56/virginia-shooting1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Congressman Uses Audio from Baseball Shooting in Ad > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 24, 2017 7:30 PM UTC  The baseball field that is the scene of a shooting in Alexandria, Va. on June 14, 2017, where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. was shot at a congressional baseball practice. The baseball field that is the scene of a shooting in Alexandria, Va. on June 14, 2017, where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. was shot at a congressional baseball practice. Alex Brandon—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 24, 2017 7:30 PM UTC Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks, who is running for Senate, released a campaign ad that features audio from the [shooting at a baseball diamond in Virginia](http://time.com/4819092/congressional-baseball-shooting-steve-scalise-james-hodgkinson/) that left four wounded, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. The 30-second ad titled “Second Amendment” labels the shooter, James Thomas Hodgkinson, as a “Bernie Sanders supporter” and points fingers at the “liberal media” for shifting the conversation toward the issue of gun control after the incident occurred. In the ad, Brooks, who was at the scene and says he used his belt as a tourniquet on one of the wounded, is seen telling a reporter that he still has full faith in the Second Amendment in the shootings aftermath. “The Second Amendment, the right to bear arms is to make sure we always have a Republic,” Brooks said in response to a reporter’s question. “So, no, I’m not changing my position on any of the rights that we enjoy as Americans.” Lawmakers went out of their way to avoid politicizing the shooting in its immediate aftermath. Both [Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered statements](http://time.com/4821010/paul-ryan-nancy-pelosi-steve-scalise-shooting-bipartisan/?utm%5Fsource=feedburner&%3Butm%5Fmedium=feed&%3Butm%5Fcampaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fpolitics+%28TIME%3A+Top+Politics+Stories%29) on the shooting and avoided weighing in on the politics of it, which was striking given the extreme political views of the shooter. The ad has evoked a negative reaction from Scalise’s chief of staff, who weighed in on the ad on Twitter saying it “makes my stomach turn.” > [](https://twitter.com/eyokley/status/889544987330977793) Scalise is still being hospitalized as a result of the shooting. He underwent surgery on July 13 to treat an infection. > [](https://twitter.com/SteveScalise/status/885594956752187392) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4871457/mo-brooks-ad-congressional-baseball-shooting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4871457/mo-brooks-ad-congressional-baseball-shooting/"},"headline":"Republican Congressman Uses Audio from Baseball Shooting in Ad","datePublished":"2017-07-24T19:30:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:42:19.486Z","description":"Steve Scabies's chief of staff said the ad \"makes my stomach turn\"","url":"https://time.com/4871457/mo-brooks-ad-congressional-baseball-shooting/","keywords":["Congress","republicans","U.S."],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc677dbffcdcab11a/6988d1a4bc6cfcc01b3e1d56/virginia-shooting1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc677dbffcdcab11a/6988d1a4bc6cfcc01b3e1d56/virginia-shooting1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Congressman Shot","caption":"Congressman Shot","creditText":"Alex Brandon—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4871457/mo-brooks-ad-congressional-baseball-shooting/","name":"Republican Congressman Uses Audio from Baseball Shooting in Ad"}}]}] ```