Kevin McCarthy has moved to censure California Representative Maxine Waters after she told Black Lives Matters protesters to ‘get more confrontational’ in Minneapolis on Saturday night.
‘This weekend in Minnesota, Maxine Waters broke the law by violating curfew and then incited violence’, McCarthy said in a tweet Monday night.
‘Speaker Pelosi is ignoring Waters’ behavior—that’s why I am introducing a resolution to censure Rep. Waters for these dangerous comments.’
McCarthy’s move came as the judge in the Derek Chauvin trial said Water’s comments could have given the defense grounds for an appeal.
Speaking after the jury was sent out on Monday afternoon, Chauvin’s attorney Eric Nelson once again made a bid to have the case against his client thrown out on grounds that there was no way the jury could be untainted by the excessive publicity surrounding the case.
‘Now that we have US representatives threatening acts of violence in relation to this trial it’s frankly mind-blowing,’ Nelson said.
Taking it into consideration Judge Peter Cahill said: ‘I grant you Congresswoman Waters may have handed you grounds for appeal and the turning over of this trial.’
Judge Cahill denied Nelson’s move for a mistrial but he said: ‘I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case. They should respect a co-equal branch of government.’
He said that failure to do so was ‘abhorrent’, but added: ‘I don’t think it’s given additional material with which to prejudice the jury. A congresswoman’s opinion really doesn’t mean much.’
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Kevin McCarthy has moved to censure California Representative Maxine Waters after she told Black Lives Matters protesters to ‘get more confrontational’ in Minneapolis on Saturday night
Maxine Waters, congresswoman for California, was in Minnesota on Saturday evening, saying that demonstrators needed ‘get more active, more confrontational’
McCarthy follows widespread condemnation of her remarks from the likes of Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki however refused to condemn her remarks and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted Waters shouldn’t apologize.
McCarthy’s move could get her removed from her committee assignments but, given Democratic control of the House, it will go nowhere if Democrats stick together.
‘This weekend in Minnesota, Maxine Waters broke the law by violating curfew and then incited violence’, McCarthy said in a tweet Monday night. ‘Speaker Pelosi is ignoring Waters’ behavior—that’s why I am introducing a resolution to censure Rep. Waters for these dangerous comments’
Republicans pounced on Waters remarks to the Black Lives Matter protesters.
Senator Ted Cruz and controversial Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also criticized Waters, who, over the weekend, joined demonstrations over the police shooting of Daunte Wright, a black 20-year-old shot and killed at a traffic stop by a white police officer, Kimberly Potter.
But many of these Republicans accusing Waters of inciting violence did not make the same charge against then-President Donald Trump in the wake of the January 6th MAGA riot on Capitol Hill, that left five dead and trail of destruction throughout the Capitol.
Cruz and Greene were some of Trump’s most ardent defenders. McCarthy did take to the House floor to declare Trump, who riled up the crowd with his false claims the election was stolen, ‘bears responsibility’ for the attack on Congress. McCarthy later flew to Mar-a-Lago to make peace with the former president after Trump became furious at him for his words.
Republicans have turned Waters into a punching bag before – notably for her urging the public to harass Trump White House staffers when they saw them in public.
Waters traveled to Minneapolis the weekend before closing arguments in the trial of Derek Chauvin, charged with murdering George Floyd on May 25.
The city is bracing for the verdict in the Chauvin case. More than 3,000 members of the National Guard are in Minneapolis, in addition to 1,100 officers from public safety agencies across the state as part of what has been termed Operation Safety Net.
In the early hours of Sunday, two members of the National Guard were injured – although not seriously – in a drive-by shooting.
Waters said she hoped Chauvin was found guilty.
‘I am not happy that we have talked about police reform for so long,’ Waters said, demanding a guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial and adding: ‘If we don’t [get it], we cannot go away. We’ve got to stay on the street.’
She added that protesters needed ‘get more active, more confrontational’ and they should ignore the curfew in place.
‘We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business,’ she said when it comes to police shootings.
Hours after Waters’ passionate speech, a Minnesota National Guard and Minneapolis police team were fired upon in a drive-by shooting.
People gather at George Floyd Plaza in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis Minnesota to listen to the families of victims of police violence
A bullet hole in a National Guard vehicle is seen after Guardsmen were targeted on Sunday
The team was providing neighborhood security in Minneapolis when, at about 4.19am local time, a light colored SUV drove by and blasted shots at an occupied National Guard vehicle.
No team members were seriously injured, though two National Guard members suffered minor injuries: One was injured by shattered glass and taken to a local hospital, while the other suffered only superficial injuries.
Cruz accused Waters and fellow Democrats of seeking to ‘to tear us apart.’
‘Why is Maxine Waters traveling to a different state trying to incite a riot? What good can come from this?’ asked Lauren Boebert, representative for Colorado.
Fellow Colorado representative Ken Buck said: ‘Why is a sitting member of Congress encouraging protesters to get “confrontational?”’
The city of Minneapolis prepares for a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial with National Guard on patrol in the streets
Arizona Republican Andy Biggs added: ‘The Radical Left don’t care if your towns are burning, if there’s violence in your streets, or if the police are too defunded to defend their communities.
‘As long as the Left appeases their anti-America base, their job is done.’
And Marjorie Taylor Greene, congresswoman for Georgia, called for her to be expelled from Congress.
‘As a sitting United States Congresswoman @MaxineWaters threatened a jury demanding a guilty verdict and threatened violence if Chauvin is found not guilty. This is also an abuse of power. #ExpelMaxineWaters’
She called Waters ‘a danger to our society.’
On Twitter, others joined in the outrage at Waters’ remarks.
‘Of course she’ll get away with saying that while anyone else would’ve been thrown in jail,’ Rick Santella tweeted.
Another user tweeted, ‘Good grief lady, leave get out of here.’
One person also accused Waters of ‘stirring people up again with her calls for violence.’
Pictured: Congresswoman Maxine Waters leaving the protest at the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Saturday
Maxine Waters (D-CA) joins demonstrators in a protest outside the Brooklyn Center police station on Saturday night
Maxine Waters (D-CA) joins demonstrators in a protest outside the Brooklyn Center police station on Saturday night
Waters is planning on staying in town until Monday.
According to CBS Minnesota, officials stated that there was a brief altercation between reporters and protesters as Waters was leaving on Saturday, the first reports of any skirmishes.
The Pioneer Press reports demonstrators gathered Saturday afternoon at the home of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, responsible for the second-degree manslaughter charges against Potter.
The protesters stood outside of Orput’s home before marching through is neighborhood in Stillwater.
Black Lives Matter activist Nekima Levy Armstrong said that Orput left his home briefly to engage in a conversation with protesters.
Pictured: Peaceful protesters in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Saturday night
Demonstrators raise their fists at Union Station near the U.S Capitol, during a march in Washington, D.C. on Saturday
A demonstrator holds a Black Lives Matter sign during a protest outside the Brooklyn Center police station on Saturday
Protests have also been taking place in Chicago following the death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, as well as New York City and across the rest of the United States.
On Friday night, many protests across the nation started off peacefully before sporadic clashes broke out between Black Lives Matters protesters and the police.
University of Minnesota medical students and doctors also marched on the Brooklyn Center Police Department on Saturday, a day after it was the site of most of the night’s unrest.
Peaceful protests on Friday devolved into clashes between protesters and police, with flash bangs and pepper spray utilized by the cops.
There originally was not expected to be a curfew for the first time in several days, before one was suddenly imposed during the night’s demonstrations.
Media members were briefly detained and 136 people were arrested.
A temporary restraining order was filed to prevent police from arresting or harming journalists.
‘Following feedback from media, and in light of a recent temporary restraining order (TRO) filed in federal court, MSP will not photograph journalists or their credentials,’ the Minnesota State Patrol said in a statement.
According to the Washington Post, several protesters were arrested on Saturday night. It’s unclear why they were arrested, as the protest of about a hundred was drawing to a close.
Earlier in the day, there were peaceful protests across the nation, including Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia.
According to NBC Philadelphia, crowds in that city walked through City Center towards City Hall peacefully in a protest that lasted around five hours.
Nevertheless, some businesses did board up and 1,000 National Guard troops were preemptively deployed.
