As we reported yesterday, North Carolina Republican Virginia Foxx claimed it was a “hoax” to call Matthew Shepard’s brutal murder a hate crime. This during debate over the federal hate crimes bill in the US House of Representatives. There’s lots of reaction to this.
The Human Rights Campaign reports that Judy Shepard (Matthew’s mother), who was in the House gallery during Foxx’s remarks.
The Associated Press says that Foxx now claims she didn’t mean to say what she did; that it was a “poor choice of words.” Towleroad has Foxx’s full statement, and the source Foxx purported to use to back up the original remarks.
Politico has statements from other House members, including Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Schultz said: ”It’s just sad the Republican caucus has been reduced such a fringe. It’s sad they would go out of their way to prevent people from getting justice.”
The Charlotte Observer, Foxx’s hometown newspaper has a general overview of reaction.
Finally, Gay Rights Watch debunks Foxx’s claim that the hate crimes act wasteful government spending, saying the bill would cost the federal government only about $10 million over four years.
See our original post — and the hateful remarks for yourself.
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