House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he will introduce a resolution to censure California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters over her urging protesters to get “more confrontational” if former police officer Derek Chauvin is not found “guilty, guilty, guilty.”
Chauvin is on trial for his role in the death of George Floyd, with the jury hearing closing arguments from both sides and beginning its deliberation on Monday. Waters’s comments even drew a rebuke from the judge in the case.
“This weekend in Minnesota, Maxine Waters broke the law by violating curfew and then incited violence,” McCarthy said in a tweet Monday evening. “Speaker Pelosi is ignoring Waters’ behavior—that’s why I am introducing a resolution to censure Rep. Waters for these dangerous comments.”
This weekend in Minnesota, Maxine Waters broke the law by violating curfew and then incited violence.
Speaker Pelosi is ignoring Waters’ behavior—that’s why I am introducing a resolution to censure Rep. Waters for these dangerous comments.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 19, 2021
“Increased unrest has already led to violence against law enforcement and her comment intentionally poured fuel on the fire,” McCarthy said in a statement. “We’ve heard this type of violent rhetoric Fromm Waters before, and the United States Congress must clearly and without reservation reprimand this behavior before more people get hurt.”
McCarthy had previously warned Sunday that “if Speaker Pelosi doesn’t act against this dangerous rhetoric, I will bring action this week.”
Pelosi, though, told congressional pool reporters on Monday that Waters does not need to apologize and that she did not incite violence. “Maxine talked about confrontation in the manner of the civil rights movement,” she said.
McCarthy’s proposed action against Waters is not as severe as that proposed by firebrand Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who claims she will introduce a resolution to expel Waters from the House, a threat that has also been used by Democrats against the first-term GOP lawmaker.
Chauvin is white. Floyd was black.
The now-former officer is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter after he placed and kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes after the man resisted being detained in a police vehicle. The jury in the trial has been instructed not to watch media coverage of the trial but has not been sequestered.
Soon before McCarthy announced his intention to bring a censure resolution, the judge in the trial said that Waters’s comments may have given the defense “something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned.”
“I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function,” Judge Peter Cahill said Monday. “I think if they want to give their opinions, they should do so in a respectful … manner that is consistent with their oath to the Constitution, to respect a co-equal branch of government. Their failure to do so, I think, is abhorrent.”
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Waters traveled to Minnesota and joined protests on Saturday sparked by the police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, who died after a police officer said she mistook her firearm for her Taser.
“I hope that we are going to get a verdict that will say, ‘Guilty, guilty, guilty,’” Waters said. “And if we don’t, we cannot go away. We’ve got to get more confrontational.”
