When I first heard of this, considering how angry left-wingers are at the current GOP establishment, by reaction to something like this happening wasn't really shock or awe, but more like a dull surprise. The first thought to come to my mind was "something like this was bound to happen sooner or later."
The dude was an elderly Bernie supporter and according to information recovered, his hit list was numerous members of the Freedom Caucus. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that the GOP Healthcare Bill passing in the House sent him over the edge. It was most certainly politically motivated and considering how the GOP is acting, it was a certainly that someone on the left would do something like this. The right is not guiltless of this sort of thing, however. There have been acts of violence perpetrated by both sides. Even taking violence out of the question, public discourse has reached all-time high levels of vitriol. Go onto forums dedicated to both left and right, even informal stuff like /pol/ and r/Politics and you'll get an idea of what I mean: both sides hate each other and stuff like this makes me more willing to hypothesize that civil war is inevitable.
This is a consequence of disenfranchisement and polarization; when dialogue and bipartisanship fail, both sides start to accept violence as a valid method of political discourse.
