A Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates roiled his Democratic colleagues Friday when he delivered a speech in which he suggested many people who commit mass shootings come from “broken homes” and blamed the “abortion industry” for helping to foster such a dangerous society for decades.
The remarks came from Del. Nick Freitas, a Republican from Culpeper, who is running in Virginia’s U.S. Senate election to unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 presidential election.
Frietas shared a video of his address on Facebook, explaining that he was reacting to Democratic lawmakers who have compared Republicans who have blocked the passage of gun control legislation to Nazis and segregationists.
His speech, which also included assertions of the Democratic Party’s “sins,” like support for segregation and World War II internment camps, led to several Democrats walking off the House floor. Following a brief recess, Del. Joseph Lindsey, a Democrat from Norfolk, said, “I have seen many of my colleagues emotionally shaken and bothered by either a lack of concern for facts or just simply playing to the cameras,” according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The issue of gun control has once again come to a boil across the nation following last month’s mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., which left 17 people dead.
