The Missouri House’s ethics committee will consider a complaint filed against a Republican lawmaker who wrote on Facebook that the people who vandalized a Confederate monument in Springfield should be “hung from a tall tree with a long rope.”
Rep. Warren Love’s post sparked an immediate outcry from Democrats, who called on the Osceola Republican to resign and for House Republican leaders to discipline him.
He later apologized in a press release. He told other media outlets his post was reflective of “cowboy justice” – not racism.
Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City, filed the complaint.
“I originally called for Rep. Love’s resignation, but at this point I think that if he’s removed from committees, I think (that) is probably more realistic as to something that we will see happen,” she said.
McCann Beatty also wants Love to apologize publicly to the legislature. Love has 21 days to respond to the Ethics committee’s vote to hold a preliminary hearing on the incident. After he responds, the hearing would likely be scheduled sometime next month.
Love’s Facebook post occurred shortly after another controversial posting on the social media site. Democratic Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal of University City said that she hoped President Donald Trump was assassination. She deleted the Facebook comment, apologized, and was later censured by the Missouri Senate.
Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport
