by Eric Broyles

After the firing of 31 shots at Representative Gabrielle Gifford and others, one would think we would be more mindful of what we say and the words we chose considering the polarized environment we live in, especially for those in a leadership role.  Even though there was no association or linkage between the gunman and the Tea Party, the Tea Party was blamed by many for the cause of the incident.

Apparently, Vice President Joseph Biden, Representative Maxine Waters, and The Carteret County Democratic Party Chairman Kenneth Humphreys have trouble controlling their derogatory comments and hate rhetoric.  Now we have a Vice President of the United States and The Carteret County Democratic Party Chairman naming and labeling all Tea Party members as “TERRORIST”.  Maxine Waters, a Representative of the people, recently condemn her Tea Party constituency to “HELL”.  In addition, Ken Humphreys also refers to Tea Party members as “THUGS” in the letter he sent to the editor called “Negotiating with thugs”, which was published in the Carteret News Times on August 7, 2011.   These individual’s reckless and dangerous verbal diatribe may have caused grievous injury to Tea Party members locally and nationally by putting them in physical harm’s way.

When you reference an individual or a group as “Terrorists”, you are reclassifying their legal legitimacy and status to that of Osama Bin Laden or Al Queda, especially if you are a high ranking government official like the Vice President of the United States.  This type of false labeling and branding willfully incites and targets acts of aggression and public disobedience against those so labeled.  Countries like Germany, Russia, China, Rwanda, and many more used similar dialogue and tactics to first incite and turn their populace against those of certain political and religious beliefs before marshalling in their programs of imprisonment and extermination.  These kinds of politically motivated doctrine(s) and program(s) of hatred and bias over time have resulted in the imprisonment and genocide of millions of innocent civilians.

Could the Tea Party or its members be the next sacrificial lambs because they exercised their 1st Amendment rights by speaking out against their government’s spending habits and governance?  Should we be concerned as citizens that a senior leader of our country has painted a bull’s eye on the back of every Tea Party member for their political beliefs?   Yes we should!  Politically based and inciting statements (e.g. – Terrorist, Racist, Thugs, and etc.) against innocent citizens and civilians, whose only intent is to spin more hatred and discord among the citizenry, have absolutely no place in society.  Today the Tea Party members, tomorrow it could be you!

Has a “Hate Crime” been committed as a result of the verbal actions of The Vice President, Representative  Maxine Waters, or Carteret County Democratic Party Chairman Ken Humphreys?  Several websites (e.g. – Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers, Freebase, and etc.) state, a “Hate Crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, social status, or political affiliation”.  Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, recently passed under the Obama administration in October 22, 2009 , states “A prominent characteristic of a violent crime motivated by bias is that it devastates not just the actual victim and the family and friends of the victim, but frequently savages the community sharing the traits that caused the victim to be selected”.  Additionally, Title 18 section 16 under the United States Code defines a violent crime as “(a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or (b) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense”.  Five states, including Oregon, now designate political affiliation violence as a “hate crime”.  Considering the number of recorded deaths in history as a result of political or religious persecution, I would consider politically oriented hate crimes as the #1 crime of all mankind.  Like most “Hate Crime” programs of persecution, it usually starts with hate rhetoric, labeling, and targeting of certain individuals or group(s) (e.g. – The Tea Party) before it advances to its next level of physical violence.  Hate crime or not?

It is time to tone down the irresponsible rhetoric that causes and escalate future “Hate Crimes” against certain segments of the population and innocent law abiding citizens.  Those labeling the Tea Party and its followers as “Terrorist and Thugs”  need to open the King James Version of the bible to Exodus 20:16 and read the scripture “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” and abide by God’s Commandment.  Furthermore, someone in the Democratic Party ought to tell Representative Maxine Waters that the Constitution does not give her the legislative authority or power to send a group of her constituency or citizens to “HELL”, only God has that right!   Even when differences exist among us, it is better to break bread and not war!

I have often asked myself over the past several days what Congresswomen Gabrielle Gifford would say and do considering the heartbreak and suffering she and others have had to suffer as a result of the hate crime committed against them one Saturday morning in January 2011?  I think she would tell us that society should stand up against this type of dialogue, whose only intent is to defame and incite the future commission of possible violence and “Hate Crimes” against a person or group for their political beliefs.  I do not believe any individual has the right to encourage or incite possible future acts of mob violence, individual violence and aggression, or hostility against innocent and law abiding Tea Party groups or its members for their beliefs in promoting fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free trade of American products.  Open civilized debate is one thing, but allowing and promoting hate mongering, branding, and labeling to continue has no place in a democratic society.

In the words of former Vice President Al Gore: “We must send a clear and strong message to all who would commit crimes of hate: it is wrong, it is illegal, and we will catch you and punish you to the full force of our laws.” In view of this, maybe it is time for both the North Carolina and United States Attorney General’s Offices to look into the inflammatory public remarks of individuals that are labeling and targeting Tea Party Groups and its members as “TERRORIST” and “Thugs”, to see if it constitutes a “Hate Crime”.