Today, the House of Representatives will vote to censure and remove Arizona Representative Paul Gosar from his committee assignments. Rep. Gosar, who is a Republican, tweeted a video that included a depiction of the murder and assault against elected officials, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Prior to the House debate and vote, Orlando Congresswoman Val Demings weighed in and condemned threats of violence.
“I worked to stop violence in our community for 27 years as a law enforcement officer,” Rep. Demings said. “When did we as a nation start debating whether violence is okay? This is about simple right and wrong. Violent rhetoric has led to multiple mass shootings. It’s unacceptable, it’s not who we are, and it needs to stop before more people get killed.”
“This is about more than just today’s vote,” she continued. “We have seen increases in violence across our nation. Civil servants and Members of Congress of both parties have received death threats inspired by violent and divisive rhetoric while GOP leaders have been silent. GOP leaders in Congress haven’t spoken out against death threats against members of their own party. Their political ambitions now come before the safety of their own members and the American public.”
Rep. Demings also shared a small sample of messages she has recently received:
- “there’s some white supremacists in Virginia, so be careful out there… yeah – we ain’t forgot – Bitch.”
- “We’re coming for you and we’re going to make you pay.”
- “She should be shot and I look forward to helping them do it.”
- “We are going to round her up and give her what she deserves.”
- “Time is precious, and you will just as dead as one of the top four to get it.”
Rep. Gosar previously held an event in Orlando, Florida with a white nationalist who attended the neo-Nazi “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, spread the “Great Replacement” theory that has inspired multiple white supremacist mass shootings, floated the idea of killing state lawmakers, and denied the Holocaust.
“There was a time when leaders rose to the occasion in our country, but today these weak so-called ‘leaders’ are hiding in the corner because they want the position but not the responsibility,” Rep. Demings said. “When leadership fails bad things happen. America is a great nation because we solve our differences with the ballot, not the bullet. I will always fight for the safety of every American.”
