About two hours before the suspect in Wednesday’s Fort Stewart, Georgia, mass shooting was identified, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) was quick to blame the “radical left” for allegedly demonizing law enforcement and the military. The suspect has since been identified as a U.S. Army Sergeant at Fort Stewart. No motive is currently known.
“Praying for the safety of everyone in Fort Stewart,” Tuberville wrote on social media at 1:25 p.m. “This is the DIRECT RESULT of the Radical Left’s constant demonization of law enforcement and our military service members.”
Five soldiers were shot, according to CNN. All were being treated for their injuries.
“Soldiers in the area that witnessed the shooting immediately and without hesitation tackled the soldier, subdued him. That allowed law enforcement to then take him into custody,” Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, told reporters at a news conference.
Critics blasted the Alabama Republican senator who is currently running for governor.
“Fact check,” wrote The Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe minutes after Tuberville’s remarks. “There is NO clarity yet in the cause for this shooting.”
“The immediate and unfounded politicization of a tragic and rapidly evolving situation by a sitting senator is deeply shameful. This is not a time to score political points,” wrote Barratt Dewey, defense and policy reporter for Tectonic Defense.
“You’re a sitting senator. It is wildly irresponsible of you to ascribe a motive when we don’t know one yet,” said public relations executive Neal Urwitz, a former advisor to the Secretary of the Navy.
“Wildly irresponsible defines Tuberville,” wrote The Atlantic’s Dr. Norman Ornstein, a political scientist. “Along with dumb as a post. And let’s add, since this pathetic excuse for a senator disrupted hundreds or more military leaders by blocking their promotions for months, a world class hypocrite.”