Video obtained by CNN shows Kyle Fitzsimons referring to immigrants as “substitutes,” echoing the white nationalist rhetoric that immigrants come to America to exterminate whites.
From the start of his nearly three and a half minute speech on May 10, 2017, Fitzsimons’ bigotry and xenophobia were on full display.
‘I’m from New York; I’m from Rhode Island, ”he said, holding up two number plates. “I grew up in those states and I have to tell you I think they are multicultural hell holes.”
CNN got the video from an eyewitness to the speech, who asked not to be named for security reasons. Mainer News was the first to report Fitzsimons’ comments.
Legislature reports, public records, and four eyewitnesses all confirm to CNN that Fitzsimons is the man making the bigoted comments in the video. His comments came during the public hearing on a bill that would have largely expanded funding for teaching English to immigrants, among other things to help them.
During the January 6 riot and uprising in Washington, DC, federal prosecutors say Fitzsimons attacked police officers, among others.
CNN was unable to reach Fitzsimons directly, but in response to the video and Fitzsimons’ comments, its public defender in the Capitol riots said to CNN, “no comment.”
In the 2017 speech, Fitzsimons’ arguments reflected some of the core tenets of the white nationalist “great replacement” theory. The belief is a delusion often espoused by white nationalists and supremacists, and it falsely claims that there is an active effort to bring in immigrants from other countries to exterminate white people.
“I’ll equate all of you because your elected officials are sitting during the opioid crisis that is hitting Maine and killing us,” Fitzsimons said. Killing Yankee New England culturally; you do nothing to do nothing about it. ‘
He then said that the legislators “brought in the new third world” and that they “brought in the replacements.”
“I was really afraid of my colleagues”
Fitzsimons then turned and gestured to someone in the audience who had spoken for the bill. John Kosinski, who was in the audience that day, told CNN it was a black man.
“This gentleman behind me, I believe he was on the news yesterday,” Fitzsimons said. “You tidied up very nicely.”
He claimed the man had stood in front of a poster the previous day that read, “Help the immigrant population navigate the juvenile justice system.”
“What’s wrong with your culture, knowing so much about how to teach your kids to stay out of prison,” Fitzsimons told the man.
Despite a legislator’s interjection, Fitzsimons continued his white nationalist rhetoric, saying, “Keep Maine, Maine.
The state motto is, ‘I lead,’ ‘Dirigo,’ ‘he said, referring to the state’s flag. ‘There are two white workers on it; don’t put them at the end of the line. ‘
Shortly before the video ends, Fitzsimons walks away from the stage and out of the picture.
“I remember the sobbing air,” former lawmaker Roger Katz told CNN. Katz was the sponsor of the bill that Fitzsimons spoke against.
He described Fitzsimons’ comments as “the most racist comment I heard in the eight years I’ve spent [in the legislature]. ”
“I was really scared of my colleagues,” recalls Senator Mattie Daughtry, who listened to the hearing while at the dentist.
Daughtry and Senator Rebecca Millett both confirmed to CNN that after the comments, a member of the Maine Capitol Police stood in the committee room during hearings for some time afterwards.
“I’ll tell you you were in that committee room … I felt exposed,” Millett told CNN. “Not very safe, and I’m not sure what this gentleman was going to do given his behavior.”
“I hope this man doesn’t shoot me in the face”
The 2017 speech wasn’t the last time Fitzsimons had a tense meeting with a member of the Maine legislature, state representative Michele Meyer said.
“In the spring of 2019, Kyle Fitzsimons, who I only knew in his capacity as an employee of a local Kittery company where I often shop, followed me to a parking lot, parked his truck behind my car and went so close to my car I had couldn’t open the door, “she told CNN in a statement.” It happened quickly. ”
During the confrontation, Meyer said in the statement, “he spoke about the 2nd Amendment, made disparaging comments about the governor and speculated that America was headed for a civil war over gun rights.”
In an interview with CNN, Meyer said the entire ordeal with Fitzsimons – he wasn’t her constituent – lasted about two minutes. She said at the time that she was a co-sponsor of a number of gun safety bills.
She remembers just listening to him, which she often did as a nurse with patients.
“I listened because I didn’t want to escalate the situation in any way,” she said. “I didn’t feel like arguing with him or defending my position, [because] it didn’t seem like that would be the sensible approach on my part. ”
After letting him talk, Meyer said she asked him to move his vehicle so she could leave, which he did.
“When things like that happen, a lot of things go through your mind very quickly,” said Meyer. “I thought very quickly – between the fleeting thoughts I had – I hope this man doesn’t shoot me in the face.”