Remarks by GOP leader of N.M. county ignites outrage
Group’s chairman denies posting vitriolic message in response to Charlottesville, Va., violence
Pressure mounted Monday on the chairman of the Doña Ana County Republican Party to resign over a vitriolic statement he posted after an attack on anti-racist demonstrators in Virginia left one woman dead.
The statement by Roman Jimenez ignited outrage. He accused “leftist protesters” of getting “exactly what they asked for.”
Rep. Steve Pearce, Jimenez’s own congressman and a Republican candidate for governor, called on him Monday evening to resign.
Other Democrats and Republicans were quick to criticize Jimenez’s comments, and some beat Pearce to asking Jimenez for his resignation.
But Jimenez, a retired state police captain who formerly headed the security detail of Gov. Susana Martinez, seemed to be holding on Monday as the controversy over his remarks continued to burn, the latest flashpoint in a national debate over the response to racist violence.
In the inflammatory post on the Doña County Republican Party’s Facebook page Sunday, Jimenez wrote “violent, leftist protesters are the brainless robots that are created by evil Soros money,” apparently referring to billionaire Democratic campaign donor and conservative foe George Soros.
“The white ones have been taught to hate their color, the women are taught to hate men, black and minorities want to kill whites and
police,” Jimenez wrote. “They then have the audacity to call conservatives racist. Their own racism, hate and violence has created the divide amongst those that refuse to be bullied on anymore. They’re getting exactly what they asked for. A segregated society of groups that they’ve created and even labeled themselves.”
His remarks, first reported by Las Cruces journalist Heath Haussamen, brought swift repudiation on the social networking website.
But the Doña Ana County Republican Party’s Facebook account then claimed the post had nothing to do with the violence in Charlottesville, Va., where one day earlier a man said to harbor white supremacist sympathies drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters following a violent rally by fascist groups. The crash killed one woman, Heather Heyer, 32, and injured many more. Two Virginia state police officers, H. Jay Cullen and Berke M.M. Bates, also died Saturday when their helicopter crashed while assisting law enforcement.
The Doña Ana County Republican Party, and perhaps Jimenez himself, tried to separate him the controversy.
“I’m speaking about leftist violence across the country,” the party said in response to a comment on Jimenez’s post. “Murder by Anyone is inexcusable.”
The county party also wrote that it is “just like the left to get all riled up and violent over something taken completely out of context.” The post was then deleted altogether. A phone number for Jimenez was no longer working when a reporter called on Monday. He did not respond to an email seeking comment.
But Jimenez, elected as the county GOP chairman earlier this year, told KOB-TV on Sunday evening that he was not aware of the attack in Charlottesville when he posted the screed. He has not apologized publicly. His fellow Republicans denounced the post. “I’m very disappointed in these comments and strongly condemn them,” Martinez told reporters Monday. “Now is a time for us to come together in continuing to condemn and reject the white supremacists responsible for this weekend’s cowardly attack.”
Pearce said in a statement that the Facebook was “unacceptable.”
“Regardless of differences, Americans must treat each other with respect. The chairman’s actions cannot go unaddressed. He should step down,” the congressman said.
The Republican Party of New Mexico issued a statement repudiating Jimenez’s comments, too, and said his remarks did not reflect the organization’s position or even the position of the county party he chairs.
Ceil Levatino, a Las Cruces City Council member and a former Republican candidate for the state Senate, said: “The Republican Party of Doña Ana County clearly needs new leadership. His comments do not reflect my personal views nor do I believe they represent the views of the majority of county Republicans about the Charlottesville tragedy.”
“It is the responsibility of the executive committee of the Doña Ana Republican Party to have a private meeting with the chair and ask for his resignation,” Levatino said. “If he refuses, then it will be up to the county central committee to have a vote of no confidence and remove him from office.”
The Las Cruces Sun-News editorial board also called on Jimenez to resign.
Unclear is whether county party officials are considering such a move.
But Wyatt Bertsch, a vice chairman of the county party, said he spoke to Jimenez after seeing his Facebook post.
“I disagree with what he said,” Bertsch told The New Mexican.
But Bertsch added that he knows Jimenez to be “a good guy.”
“I think most people will tell you that,” he said. “The fact Roman deleted it from Facebook tells you he realized he made a mistake.”