KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on a Missouri lawmaker posting and deleting a comment hoping President Trump is assassinated (all times local):
7:15 p.m.
Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens is calling for the resignation of a Missouri legislator who posted on Facebook that she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated.
Democratic state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal says she posted and later deleted the comment Thursday out of frustration over Trump’s reaction to the white supremacist rally and violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Greitens is among the Republicans and Democrats in Missouri calling for Chappelle-Nadal to step down. Those calling for her resignation include Democratic leaders in the Legislature, the chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party and a Missouri congressman. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill also says Chappelle-Nadal should step down.
Chappelle-Nadal told The Associated Press she won’t resign. She says she should not have posted the comment on her personal Facebook page, but she says she was expressing her right to free speech.
___
5:45 p.m.
The U.S. Secret Service says it is “looking into the comments” that a Missouri legislator posted on Facebook that said she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated.
Democratic state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal says she posted and later deleted the comment Thursday out of frustration over Trump’s reaction to the white supremacist rally and violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
She says she should not have posted the comment on her personal Facebook page, but she says she was expressing her right to free speech. She also is refusing calls to resign from her fellow Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay.
Secret Service spokeswoman Catherine Milhoan says all threats made against the president, vice president and other protected persons are investigated, whether the threats are direct, implied or made in passing.
___
5:15 p.m.
The Missouri lawmaker who posted and later deleted a Facebook comment saying she hoped for President Donald Trump’s assassination is refusing to resign, despite an increasing chorus of fellow Democrats asking her to do so.
State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal says she made the comment Thursday out of frustration and anger over Trump’s reaction to the white supremacist rally and violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Among those calling for her resignation are Democratic leaders in the Legislature, the chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party and a Missouri congressman. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill also says Chappelle-Nadal should step down. The Missouri Democrat called the post “outrageous.”
Chappelle-Nadal told The Associated Press she was wrong to write the post, but she says she won’t step down. She says she was exercising her First Amendment right to free speech.
___
4:30 p.m.
Powerful Democrats in Missouri are calling for the resignation of a Democratic lawmaker who posted and later deleted a Facebook post saying she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated.
Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal says she made the comment amid frustration and anger over Trump’s reaction to the white supremacist rally and violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber said Thursday that the comments were “indefensible” and the party wouldn’t tolerate calls for the assassination of a president.
Missouri Congressman William Lacy Clay says Chappelle-Nadal “has repeatedly demeaned her office and she is an embarrassment to the state.” He says Chappelle-Nadal has a long history of making “irresponsible statements,” and that calling for the president’s assassination “is a federal crime.”
Chappelle-Nadal ran against Clay for his congressional seat last year. Both politicians are black.
___
2:30 p.m.
A Democratic state senator who posted on Facebook that she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated acknowledged she should not have posted the comment.
Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal says Thursday she made the comment amid frustration and anger over the president’s reaction to the white supremacist rally and violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The president has been criticized for saying both sides were responsible for violence. Chappelle-Nadal says Trump’s actions make it easier for racists to continue their behavior. She says he’s damaging the image of the United States across the world.
She also said constituents in her predominantly black district are concerned and traumatized by the president’s apparent support of Nazis and KKK members involved in the protests.
___
1:15 p.m.
Missouri Senate Democratic Leader Gina Walsh is strongly condemning a state senator who posted and then deleted a comment on Facebook that said she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated.
Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat from University City, acknowledged on Thursday that she posted her hopes that the president would be assassinated. She said she shouldn’t have posted the comment and took it down.
Walsh said in a statement that Chappelle-Nadal’s “unacceptable behavior has no place in our caucus, the Capitol, or the Democratic Party.” She said it is never acceptable to support or suggest violence against anyone, especially elected leaders.
Walsh said today’s political climate includes too much rancor and hate and Chappelle-Nadal should be ashamed of herself for adding to that toxic environment.
___
1 p.m.
A Missouri lawmaker says she posted and then deleted a comment on Facebook that said she hoped for President Donald Trump’s assassination.
Democratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal says she didn’t mean what she posted Thursday, but was frustrated with the president’s reaction to the violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Chappelle-Nadal said she wrote the comment in response to a post that suggested Vice President Mike Pence would try to have Trump removed from office.
Chappelle-Nadal says she was reacting to concerns expressed by her constituents about Trump’s response to a white supremacist rally in the Virginia college town.
Chappelle-Nadal has been outspoken in the past. She was active in protests in Ferguson, Missouri, after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014.
___
This story has been corrected throughout to show the lawmaker’s name is Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, not Sen. Marie Chappelle-Nadal.
___
Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, https://www.stltoday.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.