During last night’s Democratic debate, the issue of gun control came up and Beto O’Rourke, who is from El Paso, Texas, where 22 people were killed in a mass shooting last month, said he supported the banning and confiscation of assault-style weapons.
“Hell yes,” O’Rourke said. “We’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against a fellow American anymore.”
Obviously, there are going to be a lot of people angry about a statement like that. Being from such a pro-gun/anti-gun-control state, though, means that some of the people with the most vitriol are essentially his colleagues.
Texas state Representative Briscoe Cain tweeted at Beto, saying, “My AR is ready for you Robert Francis,” using the former Congressman’s full name, presumably because Republicans love to make accusations that O’Rourke made the decision to adopt his childhood nickname in order to appeal to a Latino base a few decades before he ever took office. Such foresight!
Anyway, there are really only two ways to interpret Cain’s tweet. Maybe he’s saying “Yes, I agree! You should take my instrument of mass destruction because a weapon like that is unnecessary for anyone not engaged in wartime activities!”
Either that’s what he’s saying, or he’s threatening to use his assault-style weapon on O’Rourke. Which is how Beto (and every other thinking person) took it.
This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn’t own an AR-15—and neither should anyone else. pic.twitter.com/jsiZmwjMDs
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
Cain responded by calling O’Rourke “a child.”
You’re a child Robert Francis https://t.co/rU3WoYQFQV
— (@BriscoeCain) September 13, 2019
Twitter, however, seems to agree with O’Rourke. They removed the tweet for violating their terms of service.
Minutes ago, @twitter took down this @briscoecain tweet about @BetoORourke. A @Twitter spokesperson said “it violates our rules for threats of violence.” pic.twitter.com/N9APEGjNzY
— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) September 13, 2019
This comes right after ABC aired a violent ad showing a picture of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s face being set on fire and replaced with skulls and bodies from the Cambodian genocide. And all of this is during a summer that has been marked with violence from men who have spouted violent and racist rhetoric echoing that of Trump’s own words.
(via Mediaite, image: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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