Message to state Sen. Gruters and GOP allies: Stop the hate

The country is still reeling from a mass shooting in El Paso that left 22 dead.

The second line in the shooter’s manifesto clearly outlined the motive for committing that horrible massacre as it read, ‘this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” It appears that this shooter was directly inspired by President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against immigrants coming into the United States. With frequency, he has referred to immigrants as invaders and, in one instance last May during a rally in north Florida, he asked attendees what to do with the folks who are crossing the southern border.

“Shoot them!” One of his supporters shouted.

“That’s only in the panhandle you can get away with that statement.” Trump answered as he laughed.

Soon after at another rally in North Carolina, Trump supporters began chanting “send her back,” as Trump himself launched into a vicious attack against U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota.

While there are many factors contributing to the epidemic of mass shootings in this country, the irresponsible rhetoric stemming from the White House adds fuel to the fire and only serves to rile up extremists to take violent action against black and brown communities.

Here in Florida, the usual cast of Trump acolytes has been parroting his hateful language.

Republican Party Chair and state Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, has long been a fixture of the extreme right in the state, inviting Trump to speak at the Sarasota Republican Party. It was long before he ran for president and was mostly known for falsely claiming former President Barack Obama was born in Kenya.

In Facebook ads he posted last year when running for the Florida Senate, Gruters characterized immigrants as an invasion that “must be stopped”.

Once elected, he helped pass one of the harshest anti-immigrant laws in the country, pushing false narratives about immigrants being criminals in our communities.

To help propagate that message into the 2020 election, Gruters and his allies had planned a “listening tour” of Florida on the topic of immigration. In reality, it is nothing more than an anti-immigrant propaganda tour paid by his political action committee that serves to continue to spread his hateful message across the state.

In the aftermath of the shootings in El Paso, Gruters announced that he would be postponing the hate tour. It appears he and his allies still have an inkling of shame. They obviously realize the optics were not good after an anti-immigrant shooter massacred 22 people. They should cancel this tour altogether and stop the hateful rhetoric and attacks against immigrants.

We have seen what the horrible consequences can be when politicians use irresponsible and xenophobic rhetoric against black and brown communities for political gain. The result is that innocent people are often killed.

Gruters needs to get serious and stop playing with fire.

He should cancel the hate tour for good and reexamine the impact his rhetoric has on some of the most vulnerable Floridians.