Threats, vilification and screaming parents: The death of public service

Rep. Rodney Davis joined a number of his fellow Republicans on June 14, 2017, for an early morning baseball practice on a field in Alexandria, a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. They were getting ready for an annual charity game that Republicans and Democrats have played for over 100 years, and the recurring time and place of their practice was not something anyone thought needed to be kept secret.

The first gunshots rang out about 30 minutes into practice, and if it had not been for two Capitol Police officers...