JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on an ethics hearing on a Republican lawmaker who called for the vandal of a Confederate monument to be hanged (all times local):
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2:05 p.m.
There’s a new date for an ethics hearing on a Republican lawmaker who called for the vandal of a Confederate monument to be hanged.
Ethics Committee Chairman Kevin Austin said Monday that the hearing will now take place Jan. 4. It had been scheduled for Friday, just days before Christmas. But the timing drew criticism from House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, who filed a complaint against Republican Rep. Warren Love.
Love expressed hope in a Facebook post that whoever vandalized the monument in Springfield, Missouri, would be “hung from a tall tree with a long rope.” Love has said he was using old cowboy jargon, but Democrats have said his words evoke images of lynchings of black people.
Austin says he rescheduled Love’s hearing after learning that the ranking Democrat on the committee could not attend.
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12:30 p.m.
The timing of an ethics hearing on a Republican lawmaker who called for the vandal of a Confederate monument to be hanged is being criticized.
The hearing on Rep. Warren Love is the Friday before Christmas. House Democratic Leader Gail McCann Beatty says Republicans are burying it so it gets less public attention. She wants it delayed until after lawmakers return to the Capitol in January.
Love expressed hope in a Facebook post that whoever vandalized the monument in Springfield, Missouri, would be “hung from a tall tree with a long rope.” Love has said he was using old cowboy jargon.
New Ethics Committee Chairman Kevin Austin says he scheduled Love’s hearing Friday to expedite proceedings. He says he doesn’t want it further delayed.
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