Pols in D.C. rip vile theory that led to Buffalo assault

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers took to the steps of the U.S. Capitol Thursday to denounce the racist theory behind the Buffalo supermarket attack, and call on the Senate to pass a domestic terrorism bill the House advanced a day earlier.

“I ask all of us — all of us — as members of Congress, to do better, to fight hate in this world and in this country,” said Buffalo Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins after other members recited the names of the 10 victims slain in minutes as they shopped for groceries over the weekend.

The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act would create domestic terrorism offices in the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. It would also fund training for local law enforcement, and launch a task force to weed out white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the military and federal law enforcement.

The Buffalo slaughter put an explanation point on a need for the bill, lawmakers said, after the alleged 18-year-old gunman became radicalized online and allegedly left a hate-filled manifesto rife with what is known as replacement theory — the racist, anti-Semitic claim that Jews are somehow orchestrating the replacement of white people by other races.

“It’s an extremely alarming and despicable idea,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “And it must be rejected by anyone who claims to embrace our

American ideals.”

While a nearly identical version of the domestic terrorism bill passed the House on a unanimous voice vote two years ago, just one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, voted for it Wednesday night.

Republicans complained that the difference now is that President Biden is in office, and they believe he would use the law to target conservatives.

“The DOJ has started going after concerned parents showing up at school board meetings, labeling them domestic terrorists,” Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.) said in a House floor debate Wednesday.

Although Republicans have rallied around the claim that the Department of Justice was targeting parents, Attorney General Merrick Garland has testified to Congress that officials are concerned with people who make threats, not complaints.

Even Republican sponsors of the bill refused to vote for it.

Democrats said on Thursday that the GOP was embracing overt racism.

“I’m here to call out the Republican Party for making the racist replacement theory a plank in their Republican Party platform,” said Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Right here on Capitol Hill. We hear our Republican colleagues echoing versions of this theory,” Beatty said. “Let me say it in very clear terms — the Republican leadership is not innocent.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to bring the legislation up for a vote next week.