Republican Congressman Chip Roy from Texas made during a Hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on the increase in anti-Asian American violence and discrimination on Thursday. His comments were immediately criticized by other lawmakers at the hearing, but he then responded in a statement saying, “I meant it.”
‘We believe in justice. There are old statements in Texas about finding all the Texas rope and a tall oak tree, ‘Roy said at the hearing on Thursday. “We take justice very seriously. And we should do it. Get the bad guys together. That’s what we believe,” he added. “My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into guarding rhetoric in a free society, free speech, away from the rule of law and taking out bad guys.”
Roy also protested against the “Chinese Communist Party”, suggesting that the hearing was trying to check “rhetoric in a free society.”
New York Representative Grace Meng, who is the first vice president of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and testified Thursday, responded strongly to Roy’s comments.
Meng said Republicans and former President Trump had helped incite violence against Asian Americans by using language like the “China virus” to describe the coronavirus.
“Your president and your party and your colleagues can discuss issues with any other country you want, but you don’t have to do it by hitting the bull’s-eye on the Asian Americans in this country, on our grandparents, This hearing was meant to address the aches and pains of our community, to find solutions, and we will not let you take our vote from us, ”said Meng.
In a statement after the hearing, Roy defended his comments and stressed that “more justice” was needed in race-based violence.
Apparently some people are crazy that I used an old phrase about finding all the rope in Texas and a tall oak tree about doing justice against bad guys. I meant it, ”said Roy. “We need more justice and less thought police. We need to stop evildoers like those who committed the Atlanta attack this week, or cartels mistreating small children. Making America an authoritarian state like the Chinese Communists who are trying us. to destroy. “
Roy added, “No excuses.”
But social media users pointed out that the line Roy used in Texas was not a well-known saying – rather it was similar to a line from a song by country singers Toby Keith and Willie Nelson called “Beer for My Horses.” The song has the line “Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak, get all those bad guys, hang ’em high in the street.”
Asian Americans were almost subject to 3,800 incidents of hate in the past year, according to a report released by Stop AAPI Hate. Verbal harassment and avoidance accounted for 68% of incidents and physical violence accounted for 11%, with more than 503 reports of violence in 2021 alone, the report said. These incidents illustrate the wave of violence faced by the Asian community during the coronavirus pandemic.
Thursday’s hearing was scheduled before a gunman opened fire on three spas in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent. The suspected shooter, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, denied the attack was racially motivated, but officials said it was too early to rule out a hate crime. Long told investigators he had a “sex addiction” and saw the spas as a temptation he wanted to eliminate, officials said.