NEW YORK (AA) – Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins on Sunday posted a hateful Facebook message calling on “all of Christendom” to kill every “radicalized Islamic suspect”.
“The free world… all of Christendom… is at war with Islamic horror,” Higgins wrote on the popular social media platform. https://www.facebook.com/captclayhiggins/photos/a.655256107910738.1073741829.581436541959362/997878010315211/?type=3&theater
“Not one penny of American treasure should be granted to any nation who harbors these heathen animals,” the message said, using a derogatory religious reference.
“Not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter,” Higgins said.
“Hunt them, identify them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all,” the message concluded.
Higgins won a House of Representatives seat last December as a tough-talking outsider who promoted himself through online presence and merchandise.
He worked previously as a police officer — a position he resigned in 2007 after mounting allegations of excessive use of force — and captain at a sheriff’s office.
Higgins’ office told Gizmodo website that the lawmaker’s disturbing post “is referring to terrorists”.
On Facebook, some users responded to his message with dismay.
“Wow, you are no better than a terrorist,” Misty Johnson wrote. “I’m more afraid of people like you than a refugee who was vetted for 2 years by 7 Intel agencies. I think we need better vetting for our representatives. You are an unhinged lunatic and playing right into what ISIS wants.”
“This is extremely hateful,” Tyler F. Thigpen wrote. “I didn’t vote for you, but you represent me and I’d like to hear a lot less hateful speech from the politicians that serve me.”
Reached by phone, Higgins told The Washington Post that he was surprised that his message was interpreted by some as hateful or an indictment against Islam — in fact, he said, he didn’t view the post as controversial at all.
He said he was calling for the death of Islamic terrorists, not peaceful Muslims. When he used the word “Christendom,” he said, he was referencing the Western world, not calling for a war between Christianity and Islam. Working in law enforcement, Higgins said, he interacted with people from different faiths and backgrounds and has always respected people based on “what was in their heart.”
brahim Hooper, the national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told The Post that Higgins’s comments follow a familiar pattern of public officials walking back broad generalizations about Islam in the wake of tragic incidents.
“Unfortunately, we see this each time after one of these tragic incidents,” said Hooper, referring to the attack in London. “When there’s no push back against Islamophobic rhetoric, people see that as tacit endorsement of anti-Islamic rhetoric.”
“In particular, an elected official at the national level should not be making emotional statements, but should respond to tragedy with well-thought out statements that don’t make the situation worse,” he added.
Islamophobic acts and rhetoric in the United States have escalated over the last two years, coinciding with the presidential campaign and election of Donald Trump.
Anti-Muslim hate incidents rose more than 40 percent in 2016 compared with 2015, leading Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic relations said last month.
Rights group Southern Poverty Law Center said earlier this year that it found “a dramatic jump in hate violence and incidents of harassment and intimidation around the country” in the wake of President Trump’s Nov. 8 electoral victory.
[Photo: Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins. Official House Photographer, Dana Barciniak/Public Domain]
