A Louisiana congressman’s submit on X claiming that Haitian folks take part in “eating pets,” follow “vudu,” and are available from the “nastiest country in the western hemisphere” sparked widespread outrage on Wednesday.
“All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th,” Clay Higgins’ submit concluded. (Be aware: These immigrants from Haiti are in the USA legally.)
Two hours later, the racist submit was deleted from the Republican Home member’s official account, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus have been calling for Higgins to be censured.
Higgins’ diatribe was sparked by a Haitian neighborhood group in Springfield, Ohio, submitting legal prices towards former President Donald Trump and his operating mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, after they repeatedly—and falsely—claimed Haitian immigrants have been kidnapping and consuming cats and canine.
Whereas the claims have been shortly debunked by metropolis officers, that hasn’t stopped Trump and Vance from persevering with to unfold the lie—and it hasn’t saved MAGA supporters from believing it. Springfield residents have confronted tangible penalties because of the racist political rhetoric, with bomb threats forcing native youngsters to evacuate from their colleges.
Higgins, a member of the far-right Home Freedom Caucus, determined to pile on together with his newest despicable tirade. The former cop and automotive dealership supervisor has a historical past of antidemocratic, racist, and violent conduct.
In 2016, Higgins resigned as captain of the St. Landy Parish Sheriff’s workplace after a viral video confirmed him threatening a bunch of Black gang members and calling them “thugs,” “heathens,” and “animals,” based on The Washington Submit.
In 2020, throughout protests in response to the police homicide of George Floyd, Higgins made alarming threats towards black protesters in Louisiana.
“I’d drop any 10 of you where you stand,” Higgins wrote in a submit that was additionally shortly deleted. “Nothing personal. We just eliminate the threat. We don’t care what color you are. We don’t care if you’re left or right. If you show up like this, if we recognize threat…you won’t walk away.”
The Acadiana Advocate reported that Fb eliminated the submit as a result of it violated the positioning’s “violence and incitement” coverage.
Throughout a 2021 interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto, Higgins asserted that fraud was dedicated in the course of the 2020 election. When prompted by Sciutto to “cite one example” of his proof, Higgins couldn’t muster any solutions aside from repeating, “We have preponderance of evidence.”
In 2023, on the day Trump was indicted for his dealing with of labeled paperwork, Higgins posted some vaguely threatening directions on the positioning then generally known as Twitter.
“This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors,” he wrote. “Hold. rPOTUS has this. Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all.”
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries mentioned Higgins’ submit was “vile, racist, and beneath the House of Representatives” in a submit on X.
“The extreme MAGA Republicans in the House are unfit to govern,” Jeffries mentioned.
