Protesters call on Tenney to apologize for comments
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.» Protesters stood outside the N.Y. GOP State Convention reception Thursday, where U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney was a special guest.
The groups involved in protest called on the Congresswoman to apologize for comments she made on a radio program recently.
Tenney joined Fred Dicker on his Talk 1300 Radio show called “Focus on the State Capitol” a week following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Dicker said, “most gun crimes are occurring in what’s euphemistically called the inner cities involving minorities and they’re the ones the Democrats generally are going to bend over backwards to protect.”
Tenney then responded with, “it’s interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats, but the media doesn’t talk about that either.”
Members of Saratoga Progressive Action, Citizen Action of NY and other citizens gathered outside the Holiday Inn on Broadway
on Thursday, calling Tenney’s comments, “not only an inappropriate and totally unproductive response to a deadly serious situation but most distributing it is a deliberate attempt to inflame and divide us at a time when unity and calm heads are what is needed.”
Tenney did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment about the rally, but Tenney did release a statement following the interview that said her comments were taken out of context.
“I am fed up with the media and liberals attempting to politicize tragedies and demonize law-abiding gun owners and conservative Americans every time there is a horrible tragedy. While we know the perpetrators of these atrocities have a wide variety of political views, my comments are in response to a question about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crime. I will continue to stand up for law-abiding citizens who are smeared by antigun liberal elitists,” she said in the statement.
Tenney is a representative of New York’s 22nd congressional district. Her district includes the cities of Binghamton, Utica and Rome.