By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Republicans blasted Rep. Tamara Le, D-North Hampton’s Facebook F bomb regarding private and religious schools, and gun lobbyists unfurled a banner showing the heads of 11 Democrats next to swastikas at a hearing Wednesday on House Bill 687.
Both actions prompted a press release from the opposing political party in case you missed it in person.
House Republican Leader Dick Hinch issued a statement including a screen shot of Le’s post, which has since been taken down, “where she says, “F**k private and religious schools” because they do not protect students with disabilities.
A fundraising letter from the New Hampshire Democratic Party signed by Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, lambasted: “the gun lobby brought posters with the faces of my Democratic colleagues and I next to swastikas and Nazi Germany flags to a New Hampshire House committee hearing on proposed gun safety legislation, comparing those of us who sponsored the bill – some of whom are Jewish – to Nazis.”
Hinch called on House Speaker Steve Shurtleff to condemn Le’s behavior and remove her from the House Education Committee.
“It’s more than very concerning to me that a member of the House Education committee has used this type of vile language in a public format. It’s also concerning to me that so many of her Democrat House colleagues commented on and liked the post,” Hinch said.
“…Rep. Le should immediately apologize to every private and religious school throughout the state, as well as all the students and parents,” Hinch wrote.
The hearing on Wednesday was on House Bill 687, a proposed “Red Flag” law that would allow temporary confiscation of guns when someone is deemed an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others.
Ethan DeWitt of the Concord Monitor reported that members of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee deadlocked 10-10 whether to recommend it to the full House.
“But as members deliberated, a half dozen gun rights advocates in the packed hearing room brandished posters featuring an array of Democratic state senators and representatives pictured next to a swastika, prompting an eventual rebuke by the committee’s chairman,” DeWitt reported.
The New Hampshire Firearms Coalition posted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NHFirearms/
Watters’ plea for donations for the Democratic Party said: “Emboldened by a president who regularly incites hatred and violence, a governor who puts the interests of gun manufacturers ahead of the safety of Granite Staters, and complete silence from the entire NHGOP – making it clear that these actions are accepted by Republican elected officials – the New Hampshire gun lobby has taken their outrageous attacks and heinous tactics to a new low.”
Watters said Democrats in the House and Senate won’t be intimidated.