Republican Congressman Says Anti-Lynching Law Is Government Overreach

Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) voted against the House-passed federal anti-lynching law because in his view it violated states’ rights.

CNN Manu Raju tweeted:

The House passed the Emmet Till Anti-Lynching Act by a vote of 410-4, which means that even the vast majority of Trump House Republicans can see that lynching is a hate crime.

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Rep. Yoho is arguing that states should have the right to determine for themselves whether lynching an African-American person should be classified as a hate crime.

For a sane perspective, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, “Today brings us one step closer to finally reconciling a dark chapter in our nation’s history. Lynchings were used to terrorize, marginalize, and oppress black communities – to kill human beings in order to sow fear and keep black communities in a perpetual state of racial subjugation. If we do not reckon with this dark past, we cannot move forward. But today we are moving forward. Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Rush, the House has sent a clear, indisputable message that lynching will not be tolerated. It has brought us closer to reckoning with our nation’s history of racialized violence. Now the Senate must again pass this bill to ensure that it finally becomes law.”

The sad part of this conversation isn’t the existence of Republicans like Yoho who made an argument against the bill that was straight out of Jim Crow. The saddest part is that Mitch McConnell has to be lobbied to pass an anti-lynching bill.

No one is sure if McConnell will allow a vote on the bill.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) added that lynching is terrorism, “Lynchings were racially motivated acts of violence and terror that represent a dark and despicable chapter of our nation’s history. They were acts against people who should have received justice but did not. With this bill, we are able to change that by explicitly criminalizing lynching under federal law.”

Lynching is domestic terrorism, and no one is one hundred percent sure if Mitch McConnell will oppose the terrorists.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association