Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., told Newsmax TV on Friday if government officials remove statues of Confederate figures to appease rioters angry over the death of a black man in police custody in Minneapolis then "we have really crossed the Rubicon out of the commonsense world."
Riggleman, a first-term congressman who represents Virginia's largely rural 5th Congressional District including Charlottesville and Appomattox, was reacting to the announcement by Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday that he would remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the state capital "as soon as possible."
"Look at Texas: They're taking down the Texas Ranger statue," Riggleman told "Greg Kelly Reports." "I really don't understand that.
"So if everything becomes something where it hurts you or offends you, and we're going to take that statue down, even when it has nothing to do with the problem at hand, we have really crossed the Rubicon out of the commonsense world. And now we're just trying to pander."
Riots have erupted in several cities across the United States over the past two weeks following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd died after his arrest for using a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store. A widely seen video shows a white police officer restraining Floyd face down beside a patrol car with his knee on Floyd's neck.
Critics have said the incident is an example of systemic racism in law enforcement, although The Wall Street Journal disputed the claim calling it a "myth."
Riggleman speculated the removal of the statue of Lee might require the renaming of the nation's capital or other landmarks that were named after Revolutionary War leaders, such as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, who were from the South and owned slaves.
"I went to the University of Virginia. How about Thomas Jefferson?" he asked rhetorically. "Are we going to worry about George Washington? Thomas Jefferson? I'm in Nelson County, one of the founding fathers, so are we going to talk about Thomas Nelson? At what point do we stop?"
Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, or Find More Cable Systems – Click Here.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.