Texas Sen. Ted Cruz mocked Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono after she aired a video that referred to law enforcement officials with the word “police” on their chest as “unidentified” officers.
Hirono, who is the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, detailed reports that unidentified federal officers arrested protesters and placed them in unmarked vans. Cruz, the top Republican on the subcommittee, dismissed Hirono’s opening remarks after noting that the officers in the clip shared by the senator were identified.
“Thank you, Sen. Hirono. I will note at the end of that video that, as narrated, it describes law enforcement as unidentified while the video shows them with the words ‘police’ in bright yellow all-caps across their chest, so that’s a curious way to describe a law enforcement officer as ‘unidentified,'” Cruz said.
He also criticized Hirono for choosing not to condemn rioters during her opening remarks.
“The ranking member said, ‘Nobody is condoning violence and rioting’ and yet nowhere in the opening remarks was even one word condemning it,” he said. “Condemning the assaults, condemning the 277 injuries that federal law enforcement officers have suffered at the hands of those rioters. Not a word.”
Hirono argued in her opening statement that the committee should not be focused on the rioters, but rather it should be focused on stopping federal officers from stopping peaceful protests.
“If this subcommittee wants to protect Americans’ rights to peacefully assemble, we should be focused on preventing federal officers from beating up protesters, tear gassing them, and shooting them in the face,” Hirono said. “That’s the hearing we should be having today.”
