Right-wing provocateur used racist comments when talking about guns

A right-wing provocateur who testified against legislation that would extend gun bans to lawmakers’ offices used a racial slur during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday as he accused lawmakers of falsely attacking white people’s gun rights in the wake of Trump’s victory. newly elected President Donald Trump.

His actions drew strong condemnation from lawmakers.

Avi Rachlin of Detroit spoke at the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety, representing “Groypers for America,” an apparent reference to a network of white supremacists. “This is legislation that targets white people,” he said. The bills he opposed would codify a gun ban in the Capitol and expand the ban to the buildings that house lawmakers’ offices. “It’s racist because the people coming into the Capitol are predominantly white. People who have (concealed pistol licenses) are predominantly white, and this is in retaliation to the only demographic group that voted overwhelmingly to support Donald Trump and that’s why it’s playing out on us because you don’t like us, and so it is.”

He said to address gun violence, lawmakers should focus on young black men, who he called the n-word.

Committee chairwoman State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, immediately blamed Rachlin after using the nickname.

Republicans on the committee quickly rebuked Rachlin. Vice Chairman of Minorities State Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, said the idea that the legislation targeted white people was unfounded. “It’s just a ridiculous argument,” he said. “The term you used is inappropriate. And it won’t get you anywhere in this Legislature,” Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, told him. Both Republican lawmakers on the committee voted against sending the legislation to the Senate for a vote.

Rachlin’s social media is full of racist messages and Nazi imagery. In one X post he notes that he did not vote for Trump.

State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, who sponsored one of the bills in the package, posted a video after the committee adjourned detailing what happened. “What he did was so offensive that two of our Republican colleagues chastised him for saying what he did. It was absolutely disgusting,” she said. “I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“It was shocking,” said Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, chair of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. “And it’s sad that we’re going to have to deal with these issues in 2024.” When asked if she expects Trump’s election to embolden extremists, Geiss expressed concern. “It’s definitely a concern,” she said.

Visitors to the Michigan Capitol are currently prohibited prohibited from bringing firearms into the building, with the exception of security and law enforcement personnel. Current regulations also allow lawmakers to carry a concealed handgun. In April 2020, many Democratic lawmakers called for changes to gun regulations in the Capitol armed demonstrators and militia members entered the building to demand an end to the COVID-19 emergency.

Geiss was there in the Capitol that day. “I have been in the Legislature since 2015 and I will tell you, even on open carry days, I have not felt unsafe. April 30, 2020 was a very different situation because it targeted people – all of us – who are in our position because they are doing our job or trying to do our job in the legislature in both chambers of the Capitol,” she said . Like most workers, she said, lawmakers also expect a “little bit of safety” when doing their jobs.

Following the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection, the Michigan Capitol Commission was created forbidden the open carrying of weapons in the Michigan Capitol. Two years later, the commission approved a near-total ban on weapons in the building.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @clarajanehen.