On Memorial Day, while most of us were kicking back, more than 1,000 protesters gathered in the public gallery of the Texas House to loudly voice their disdain for the new anti-immigrant law known as SB4. Protestors wanted answers about the new law, which requires local police to follow federal procedures concerning undocumented people.
Children demanding "#SB4 has got to GO!" #Texas @GregAbbott_TX pic.twitter.com/WCgU4D3Lyj
— ANTONIO ARELLANO (@AntonioArellano) May 29, 2017
One Republican lawmaker was not happy that protesters were disrupting their session.
CREDIT: Credit: Matt RinaldiTX / Twitter
On the House floor, Texas Republican Rep. Matt Rinaldi was so annoyed with protesters that he told his democratic colleagues that he called ICE to arrest non-citizens who were protesting, the New York Times reports.
With protesters outside and inside the gallery, and Rinaldi losing it, things just escalated from there.
Democrat Rep. César J. Blanco also said that Rinaldi used an obscenity on the floor.
My statement on racist comments today on Texas House Floor.#SB4ISHATE #TXlege pic.twitter.com/xFO7Zbi7KY
— Cesar Blanco (@CesarJBlanco) May 29, 2017
Blanco claims that Rinaldi actually said: “I called I.C.E…Fuck them!”
That’s when all hell broke lose on the floor between Rinaldi and democrats.
Credit: Mark F / YouTube
“We were in shock,” Blanco told The New York Times. “He assumed that because they were brown, in the gallery and protesting that they were here illegally.”
The protesting wasn’t just happening inside the public gallery.
Music and dancing outside the state Capitol at the #sb4 protest. #txlege pic.twitter.com/l9ERdH6J9y
— Mary Huber (@marymhuber) May 29, 2017
There was music and dancing…
#TheFutureIsLatina and Beautiful. #VLGoingLocal #HereToStay #SB4 pic.twitter.com/u5JfnySfIy
— Mary Ibarra (@MaryIbarra_11) May 29, 2017
… but back inside, lawmakers were at each other’s throats.
That is weak. Calling ICE on who? Brown people? Cause they're brown? There you have Exhibit A SB 4 will play out. Exit stage left, coward. https://t.co/1nlzbBxQl9
— Rep. Poncho Nevárez (@poncho_nevarez) May 29, 2017
He's a liar and hateful man. Got no use for him. God bless him. https://t.co/te13An7gwm
— Rep. Poncho Nevárez (@poncho_nevarez) May 29, 2017
The drama continued to unfold as Democratic Rep. Poncho Nevárez alleged that Rinaldi threatened to shoot him.
“There was a subsequent exchange between my brother Poncho and Representative Rinaldi and there was a threat made from Rinaldi to put a bullet in one of my colleague’s heads,” Rep. Justin Rodriguez told reporters after the incident, The Texas Observer reported. “That kind of threatening language, he needs to be called out and held accountable for.”
The GOP politician doesn’t dispute that he’d shoot Nevárez but claimed he only said it as self-defense.
A statement regarding today. pic.twitter.com/M0BcBXa43P
— Matt Rinaldi (@MattRinaldiTX) May 29, 2017
It’s also not clear if anyone will press charges, but according to a press release, Republican House speaker Joe Straus said, “There is no excuse for members making insensitive and disparaging remarks on the floor of the Texas House.”
READ: John Leguizamo Calls On Latino Celebs To Boycott Texas Because Of New Anti-Immigrant Law
