Trent Kelly

On June 14, 2017, in Alexandria, Virginia, Republican member of Congress and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana was shot while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, scheduled for the following day. Also shot were David Bailey and Crystal Griner, a Capitol Police officer assigned to protect Scalise; Zack Barth, a congressional aide; and Matt Mika, a Tyson Foods lobbyist.

Kelly won his primary in March 2016, defeating Paul Clever of Olive Branch both district-wide and in DeSoto County for the Republican nomination for the First District House seat. Kelly had 18,152 votes in DeSoto County, or 80 percent, while Clever got 4,497 votes, or 20 percent, in his home county.

After the death of Republican Congressman Alan Nunnelee in 2015, Kelly (also a Republican) entered the race to succeed him. Nunnelee’s widow, Tori Nunnelee, contributed to Kelly’s campaign.

Kelly was sworn in by House Speaker John Boehner on June 9, 2015. In his first term, he served on House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Small Business.

A ten-minute shootout ensued between the shooter—James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois, a left-wing activist—and officers from the Capitol and Alexandria Police. Media reports state Hodgkinson began firing from the fence adjacent to the third base dugout. At the time of the shooting, Kelly was playing third base and was roughly ten yards away from Hodgkinson. As Hodgkinson opened fire, Kelly is reported to be the first person to be shot at and the first to alert the rest of the team there was an active shooter by yelling “shooter, active shooter” as he evacuated himself from the field. Officers shot Hodgkinson, who died from his wounds later that day at George Washington University Hospital. Scalise and Mika were taken to nearby hospitals, where they underwent surgery. Scalise is the first sitting member of Congress to have been shot since Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in 2011.

After law school, Kelly worked in private practice until 1999, when he became a city prosecutor in Tupelo. He was elected district attorney in 2011, defeating a nine-term Democratic incumbent.

Kelly graduated from University of Mississippi School of Law in 1994 and received a master’s degree from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 2010.

Kelly is currently serving as a Brigadier General with the Joint Force Headquarters for the state of Mississippi as a member of the Army National Guard, serving in the Mississippi National Guard. In 1990, he mobilized for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm as a Second Lieutenant engineer officer. In 2005, Kelly deployed as a Major during the Iraq War with the 155th Brigade as the Operations Officer of the 150th Engineer Battalion. From 2009 to 2010, he deployed as a Lieutenant Colonel to Iraq as the Battalion Commander of Task Force Knight of the 155th Brigade Combat Team and commanded over 670 troops from Mississippi, Ohio, and Kentucky. Kelly has received two Bronze Stars, the Combat Action Badge, the DeFleury Medal, and numerous other federal and state awards for his service. From October 2014 to November 2016, he served as the Brigade Commander for the 168th Engineer Brigade, leading 1,400 soldiers from the 223rd Engineer Battalion, the 890th Engineer Battalion, and multiple Engineer Specialty Companies from Mississippi. Kelly was promoted to Brigadier General in January 2018.

He graduated from Union High School in 1984 and joined the Mississippi Army National Guard in 1985. Kelly earned an associate degree from East Central Community College in Decatur before graduating from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Kelly is a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.

John Trent Kelly (born March 1, 1966), known as Trent Kelly, is an American politician from Mississippi. A member of the Republican Party, Kelly is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi’s 1st congressional district , following his victory in a special election on June 2, 2015.

Kelly was born on March 1, 1966, in Union, Mississippi to John and Barbara Kelly. He is a resident of Saltillo, Mississippi, where he served as the district attorney of Mississippi’s 1st Circuit Judicial District (which includes Lee, Pontotoc, Alcorn, Monroe, Itawamba, Prentiss and Tishomingo counties).