Congressman Hakeem Jeffries did not mince words as he assigned blame for this latest act of domestic terrorism
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of the Eight Congressional District in New York did not mince his words. He articulated something many of us have been saying for a long time. What he said about the domestic terrorist attack on Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, Colorado is significant and must be heeded.
“We have to push forward,” Hakeem Jeffries said. “And it is going to be important to call terrorism, terrorism. Because what has happened is that we warped our public policy by failing to identify these acts of violence for what they really are. And this was an act of domestic terrorism. Now, we as members of Congress take an oath to protect the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And what we are seeing is that these acts of terrorism are being committed by American citizens, in this particular instance at a Planned Parenthood site, I am certain with a political agenda fueled by the extremist rhetoric that we’ve seen from some on The Hill and from people all across the country as it relates to a woman’s right to choose. And that is problematic. And one of the things that it warps is our ability to deal with the fact — why could this individual have an AK-47 type weapon of mass destruction. There is no justification for it. He can’t hunt deer with that. It’s unnecessary. He is hunting human beings. And so I think if we want [to] directly get at the heart of the problem, what’s fueling these things, hopefully as public policy makers, we can come up with an actual response.”
That commentary was very smart and well structured. He used this incident to justifiably bring up three issues at the forefront of our current politics. He brought up gun control. He brought up a woman’s right to choose. And he brought up domestic terrorism. This one act by this domestic terrorist is a microcosm of what Right Wing extremist rhetoric, attempted policies, and behaviors have effected.
It is time for a change. It is time that America rid itself of those that are inciting and coddling our home grown terrorists. It is time for truth.