Alabama’s Mo Brooks was on the scene of today’s terrible attempted massacre in Virginia. He was in immediate danger and rendered first aid to victims while the shooting was underway and helped Representative Steve Scalise after the shooting stopped. He gave a harrowing account of the attack to CNN:

That’s a remarkably clear and cogent statement from a man who was minutes before under fire. Representative Brooks wasn’t finished. A reporter asked him a question about “the gun situation in America,” and here was his response:

Rep. Mo Brooks was asked the inevitable gun control question. Here's what he said: pic.twitter.com/MKPw5HgXtL — Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) June 14, 2017

It’s hard to imagine a better response if he’d had days to think, reflect, and write an op-ed. The answer to an abuse of liberty isn’t to restrict liberty but rather to defend against that abuse. And that’s exactly what courageous Capitol Hill police did today. We’d like to think that we can enjoy freedom without consequence, that people will always exercise their liberties in a virtuous manner. When they inevitably don’t, we too often race to blame the liberty along with the person. That’s the wrong response.


In a few terrifying minutes, Representative Brooks risked his life to help others and then — later — had the presence of mind to defend an essential liberty passionately and eloquently. It’s hard to imagine a better example of leadership under fire. Well done.