House Republican Says Shooting of National Guard Members ‘Is What Happens’ When Democrats Call Them ‘Stormtroopers’ and ‘Occupation Forces’
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) argued the Wednesday shooting of two National Guard soldiers is partly the result of Democrats’ rhetoric.
Tenney, who called for President Donald Trump’s birthday to be a national holiday, joined Fox News on Thursday following the Wednesday shooting of National Guard members Andrew Wolfe, 24, and Sarah Beckstrom, 20, in Washington, D.C. Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, of Washington State, was taken into custody minutes after the shooting.
Tenney called the soldiers “heroes” and blasted rhetoric from Democrats about law enforcement amid Trump deploying National Guard to cities in an attempt to crack down on crime.
Tenney said:
This is just, you know, what happens when you have the other side referring to these National Guardsmen — who are doing a phenomenal job here in the District of Columbia, making it safer for everyone, residents and people who go to work here every day and families — and, you know, I think about, you know, some of the Democrats [who] are referring to these people as stormtroopers and as occupation forces and and it’s part of the continuation of the defund and demoralize the police movement that was started back with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others continuing to vilify these people who serve in uniform.
The stormtrooper comment by Tenney may refer to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) using the term about federal agents being deployed to Portland, Oregon in 2020. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser described the deployment of National Guard members as an “authoritarian push” by the president and other lawmakers have used similar language.
“These are American heroes,” Tenney told Fox News. “These are people who have answered the call to serve, especially our National Guardsmen. They’re serving every day in a regular job and then going on to do continued work and serving our nation in in uniform. And it’s just a tragedy that this could possibly happen in our country. And obviously as a member of the intelligence committee, we’re gonna be looking into this further.”
Watch above via Fox News.
