WASHINGTON – The judge in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd has criticized recent remarks by rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, criticized and said her words could be the reason for the defense to appeal against a verdict.
The congresswoman, who has long been a lightning rod for right-wing criticism, had already faced a shower of Republican anger over her comments over the weekend, urging Minnesota protesters to “get more confrontation” if Chauvin was not convicted. is not, with several lawmakers from the GOP Waters seeking expulsion from Congress.
Chauvin’s attorney asked the judge to declare a wrong case over Waters’ comments, arguing that she had harmed the jury. Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the request, but said Waters’ comments were “appalling” and that she may have given the defense a lifeline anyway.
“I’m going to let you know that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that could lead to this entire trial being overturned,” Cahill said when arguments in the case were concluded Monday and the jury began deliberating.
Waters appeared during a rally against racial justice in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on Saturday night, a suburb not far from where Chauvin’s trial is taking place, hampered by protest marches after a police officer killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright last week has.
“We need to stay on the streets and get more active, we need to become more confrontational,” Waters told reporters when asked what would happen if the Chauvin trial, which is underway this week, ends with acquittal. “We need to make sure they know what we mean by business.”
While Republicans have asked Waters to be punished for her comments, she is unlikely to be punished because Democrats control Congress.
“No, I do not think she should apologize,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Monday. “Maxine spoke of ‘confrontation’ in the manner of the civil rights movement.”
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy accused Waters of “incitement to violence” and said if the Democratic majority in the House does nothing to condemn her, “I will take action this week.”
Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Who herself was calling for removal from Congress, has tabled a resolution to expel Waters from the House. Rep. Lee Zeldin, RN.Y., asked Waters to be “Immediately removed from CongressAnd other GOP legislators have called for asanction“After”hold her accountable. ”
“Rep. Waters is a danger to our society,” said Greene, who is accused of encouraging a deadly attack on the American Capitol.
Waters responded to Greene’s criticism by calling it a distortion of her remarks.
“I’m not worried they will continue to distort what I say,” Waters told The Grio. “That’s who they are and that’s how they act. And I’m not going to be bullied by them.”
Conservatives see her comments as an encouragement for more violence and rioting. Waters allies say Republicans are trying to divert right-wing violence, such as the January 6 riot at the Capitol, by choosing another battle with one of their goals.
“What she said is nothing new. She has always said the same kind of things. She has always stood up for the oppressed, ‘said Rev. Jewett Walker, a politically affiliated African-American pastor in Los Angeles, said he has worked with Waters for years. “There are people who do not like it.”
In 1992, a year after Waters was first elected to Congress, her district of South Central Los Angeles exploded following the acquittal of white police officers who beat black motorist Rodney King. While other politicians have denounced the riots, Waters is questioning whether it should even be called a riot.
“If you call it a riot, it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went bad for no reason,” Waters was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times at the time. ‘I maintain that it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. So I call it a rebellion. ‘
Republicans have long used Waters as a boogeyman to help them raise money and tickle their base – and as a wedge to try to persuade moderate swing voters not to support other Democratic candidates in the battlefield districts.
Waters herself, in her 15th term in Congress, has never faced a political threat in her overwhelming Democratic district, where she regularly wins re-election with more than 70 percent of the vote.
“Congresswoman Waters has been one of the most outspoken women leading the fight for justice for decades,” said Aimee Allison, who founded the group She the People, to promote women in politics. “She will not be deterred, and so will Americans who demand more accountability from our criminal justice system.”
However, she is such a lightning conductor that her Republican challenger, Navy veteran Joe Collins, raised a whopping $ 10.6 million last year, and he spent more than 5 to 1 on Waters, according to reports from the campaign funding. Although Collins lost the bid 72-28 percent, he has already raised more than $ 500,000 for a rematch in 2022.
“Maxine Waters is a total disgrace to the United States and to South LA,” Collins told Fox News on Monday in an appearance that is likely to garner more donations.
Collins called on Congress to remove Waters from office by invoking a clause in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution disqualifying federal officials who are “engaged in an uprising.”
This is the same clause that liberals wanted to use to ban Trump from acting again after the riot in the Capitol and expel Greene – an effort that Waters supports.
On MSNBC Sunday, Waters defended her rhetoric.
“I wanted to be there, like ‘Aunt Maxine’ to show them that I not only love them and that I support them too, but that they can trust me to be at this terrible time in our whole lives,” she said of her trip to Minnesota.
‘Auntie Maxine’ is the monk the 82-year-old lawmaker accepted when she became an early hero for younger progressive people who opposed former President Donald Trump.
She was one of the first Democrats to demand Trump’s accusation, and regularly accused Trump of being controlled by Russians (the post on her Twitter account is still a 2017 meme with the hashtag “#KremLINKlan”), and she encouraged supporters to harass Trump officials.
‘When you see someone from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gas station, you get out and create a crowd. And you push them back. And you tell them they are not welcome, ‘she told a crowd in 2018. Her remarks come in the wake of criticism of incidents by Trump officials who were opposed in restaurants.
This earned her a place at the top of the Trump enemy’s list, as the former president regularly fought in tweets and speeches against the ‘extraordinarily low IQ person’ against the ‘congresswoman with whom they were already very well known from conservatives media’. .
Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sending pipe bombs to Trump critics, sent one to Waters and her office was repeatedly targeted.
Just last week, she earned a backlash from conservatives and an applause from the left because she was to rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a trusted ally of Trump, said to “keep his mouth shut” during a committee meeting with Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s Chief Medical Adviser.