Chip Roy pushes back on Democrats blaming Trump for Atlanta shootings; ‘Policing of rhetoric’

Rep. Chip Roy Thursday pushed back at Democrats linking former President Trump’s rhetoric to the murder of six Asian women at Atlanta-area massage parlors this week, accusing the left of making free speech a crime.

In an impassioned opening statement before a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on violence targeting Asian-Americans, Mr. Roy, Texas Republican, said focusing on rhetoric minimizes the gunman’s actions.

“We shouldn’t be worried about having a committee of members of Congress policing our rhetoric because some evil-doers engaged in evil activities as occurred in Atlanta, Georgia,” he said.

Democrats have blamed Mr. Trump and Republican lawmakers for the attack, saying using terms like “China virus” or “Kung Flu” to describe the deadly coronavirus has created a climate of fear among Asian-Americans. 

At the same hearing, Rep. Steve Cohen, Tennessee Democrat, said Mr. Trump’s rhetoric had the “effect of putting a target on the back of Asian-Americans.”

Rep. Judy Chu, California Democrat, said Mr. Trump stoked anti-Asian sentiment to shift blame away from “his own flawed response to the coronavirus.” She said attacks on Asian-Americans have increased by 3,800 incidents in the past year.

“Even though Donald Trump is no longer president, I believe the most recent round of attacks are the aftermath of one year of hateful attacks and four years of ugly comments about immigrants and people of color,” she said. 

Mr. Roy fired back, accusing Democrats of using the tragedy as a political cudgel to exacerbate cancel culture.

“Who decides what is hate? Who decides what is the kind of speech that deserves policing? A panel of this body? A panel in the executive branch? A panel at the Justice Department?” he asked.

“We are making crimes out of speech as opposed to making crimes out of the actions of evildoers,” he continued, adding that the Atlanta gunman should have “the absolute hell punished out of them.”

Mr. Roy defended his use of the phrase “ChiCom” to describe the Chinese Communist Party, saying they are “bad guys” who hid the coronavirus’s danger and harm their citizens.

He added that when the U.S. government starts regulating speech, it puts the country on the same level as communist China.

“When we start policing free speech, we are doing the very thing that we are condemning when we condemn what the Chinese communist party does to their country,” he said. “That is exactly where this wants to go and nothing could be more dangerous than going down that road.”

Rep. Grace Meng, New York Democrat, teared up while forcefully rebutting Mr. Roy’s comments.

“Your president and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don’t have to do it by putting a bullseye on the back of Asian-Americans across the country,” she said.

“This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and find solutions and we will not let you take our voice away,” she continued, becoming increasingly emotional.