Following a kerfuffle at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Monday, a Democrat lawmaker is admitting that he physically assaulted a fellow state representative.
Texas State Rep. Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) claimed that Ramon Romero (D-Fort Worth) and Poncho Nevarez (D-Eagle Pass) assaulted him after he called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on hundreds of unauthorized immigrants protesting an immigration bill.
Nevarez has come forth and admitted in an interview to the nature of the altercation.
“I did shove him around a little bit, I pushed him, because he needed to get out of there,” he said. “I got in his face and I put my hands on the guy.”
He continued. “In another exchange, I said, ‘we need to take this outside because it shouldn’t get resolved here in front of all these people.'”
Nevarez went on to say that he heard his colleagues say that Rinaldi threatened to put a bullet through one of the Democratic lawmaker’s head. Rinaldi denied this and said he’d only use a firearm in self defense.
“He’s a racist. He’s a bad person,” Nevarez said about Rinaldi. “We’re not going to allow people like that to get away with saying comments like that because they think nothing’s gonna happen to ’em.”
