RUFUS- Mesa Governor Josh Adamson has officially held his first press conference since his April 24 assassination attempt that nearly cost him his life. Adamson delivered remarks about the shooting while touching on the next steps in his administrative agenda. He also called for the end of political violence.

Adamson was shot while returning back the Governor’s mansion on April 24, and the shooter then-unknown, 24-year-old Susan Plateman fired three rounds into Governor Adamson who immediately collapsed to the ground to security testimony. He was then rushed to Alden County Medical Center where he underwent 8 surgeries to remove bullet fragments from his ribcage and his chest wall.

But after surviving his brush with death, he is more determined than ever to double down on his trans bans, as well as mass deportation efforts that have been ongoing since late 2024. Experts call his quick recovery “commendable.”

“Political violence in any form, whether against me, the President or any person who has differing political opinions is not okay,” said Governor Adamson. “More recently, attacks against Republicans have increased sharply than they were 5-10 years ago. I condemn any and all political violence against any person as that is not forward moving.”

Adamson is scheduled to deliver his 2026 State Of The State address next month with critics and supporters likely to be tuning in massive numbers. It has been speculated that Adamson will also touch on efforts to end violence against anyone.

“I know that several major officials including US President Donald Trump, President Jay Laylin and now myself have been subject to political violence,” continued Adamson. “Former Mesa Governor Kirk Paul was killed by political violence and for that we must work to end it. We can’t have more Kirk Paul’s, Charlie Kirk’s and those who disagree with us.”

In his speech he also addressed several legislative achievements including ending ‘rogue homeless programs,’ vowing the reform the existing state sponsored homeless programs. Several key points he made included spending more in affordable housing for homeless veterans and citizens, work to cut funding for Nationalist-sponsored child care programs that don’t benefit working class families or extremely low income earners, promote economic stability by create jobs to allow the homeless to get jobs that may not have been available to them.

The programs that he announced during the press conference will add about 288 million to the budget, but experts say the programs will have long term positive impacts including cleaning up Mesa’s homeless encampments, getting the homeless back on their feet, and creating more economic contributions by those who have otherwise stayed out of work.

At the start of his press conference, he was met with applause and handshakes before the media got down to business asking him questions about his assassination, the high fuel prices caused by the US-Iran war, and various other topics including education and justice reform in Mesa.