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Reporter Threatened With Arrest at Georgia Congresswoman’s Town Hall

A TV news reporter was threatened with arrest Wednesday night after trying to ask a question at a town hall event put on by Marjorie Taylor Greene, as the congresswoman representing the northwest corner of Georgia faces growing criticism on Capitol Hill.

(CN) — A TV news reporter was threatened with arrest Wednesday night after trying to ask a question at a town hall event put on by Marjorie Taylor Greene, as the congresswoman representing the northwest corner of Georgia faces growing criticism on Capitol Hill.

The day before, CNN reported the Republican congresswoman had liked comments on her Facebook page between 2018 and 2019 calling for the execution of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and replied that “we must be patient” when another comment asked when former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could be hung.

The reaction from Republican leaders was one of condemnation: a spokesperson for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would speak to Greene and Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, and said Greene’s posts were “disgusting.”

Greene’s past comments have raised questions over how Republicans in the House will ultimately respond to them. The freshman lawmaker has spent less than a month in office. One of the first actions she took in Washington was to file articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden.

In the past, she has expressed support for the baseless conspiracy theory QAnon, which accuses Democrats of pedophilia and Satan worship, and she reportedly agreed with Facebook comments that said the Parkland school shooting was a “false flag” event.

Greene has been placed on the House committee that oversees education across the nation, which made Pelosi concerned about Republican leadership in the House. 

“What could they be thinking? Or is ‘thinking’ too generous a word for what they might be doing?” Pelosi said at a press conference Thursday. “It’s absolutely appalling, and I think that the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for this disregard they have for the death of those children.”

On Wednesday, David Hogg, a survivor of the shooting that killed 17 at the Stoneman Douglas High School, shared a video of Greene following him around the sidewalks of Capitol Hill in March 2019 as he met with lawmakers.

In the video, Greene is shown telling Hogg she carries a gun for protection and he’s attacking the Second Amendment. As Hogg walks off towards the Capitol without engaging her, Greene told the camera Hogg is funded by philanthropist George Soros and he was a coward.

This week, Greene returned to Georgia’s 14th Congressional District to hold a series of three town hall meetings with constituents.

On Wednesday night, she spoke at an event in Dalton, where she appeared a few weeks prior at a rally held by then-President Donald Trump. She received applause when she told those gathered she voted against speakership for Pelosi.

Greene had just finished talking about the reporting on her past Facebook activity when Meredith Aldis, a reporter with NBC-affiliated news station WRCB, attempted to ask a question.

“They’re going to dig up anything they can to make me sound like a monster and a horrible person and they’re going to report that nonstop,” Greene said, according to a livestream of the events.

The congresswoman said the media “controls the microphone” and reports what they want, and they never reported her other social media activity, like the Bible verses she posts. She then told the audience to stand up to the radical left to save the country, but not violently. 

She paused. Aldis began asking a question about a video.

“I’m talking to my constituents,” Greene said. “We’re not having, this isn’t a press conference.”

WRCB said a deputy of the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office threatened the reporter with arrest for criminal trespassing before she was escorted from the event.

The sheriff’s office directed questions about the incident to Greene’s office, which did not return an emailed request for comment.

The town hall came the same evening Congressman Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat from California, said he would introduce a resolution to expel Greene from the House.

“Her very presence in office represents a direct threat against the elected officials and staff who serve our government,” Gomez said in a statement, “and it is with their safety in mind, as well as the security of institutions and public servants across our country, that I call on my House colleagues to support my resolution to immediately remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body.”

Follow @jcksndnl
Categories / Government, Media, Politics

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