The Times has updated news on the Alexandria shootings.

Local officers arrived minutes after they received desperate calls for help, including from those still under siege at the field, the authorities said. The F.B.I. said it would take the lead in the investigation, treating it as an assault on a federal officer.

Too bad the FBI is shorthanded right now…

The shooting stunned the capital as it began its workday. Out of caution, officials quickly put in place a “robust police presence throughout the Capitol complex,” and the Secret Service added security around the White House.

Speaker Paul D. Ryan addressed his colleagues in the House chamber shortly after noon, saying the body was united in its shock and anguish. “We do not shed our humanity when we enter this chamber,” Mr. Ryan said, his voice seeming to nearly break at times. “For all the noise and all the fury, we are one family.”

Actually, though, Mr Speaker, you kind of do. You kind of do shed your humanity when you enter that chamber. If you didn’t you wouldn’t pass the legislation you do.

Mr. Trump came to the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House after the shooting and said, “We may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country.”

Again, no, I don’t think so. I think it’s a nice piety but it’s not true. Many who serve in the capital are there because they love money and rich people and a system that rewards rich people at the expense of everyone else. I don’t see why I should assume that’s either synonymous with or compatible with loving the country.

“We can all agree that we are blessed to be Americans, that our children deserve to grow up in a nation of safety and peace, and that we are stronger when we are unified, and when we work together for the common good,” the president said.

Maybe we can all agree to that, but we obviously can’t then go on to putting it into practice. And can we all agree that Donald Trump is the right person to tell us “that we are stronger when we are unified, and when we work together for the common good”? No, we can’t, because I can’t. Donald Trump spits on unity every time he opens his mouth or presses the keys with his thumbs.

Also, if our children deserve to grow up in a nation of safety and peace, it’s too bad the National Rifle Association has such a stranglehold on the entire government.