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Rep. Nancy Mace scrutinized a transgender activist during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing over previous violent online statements the activist made against conservative Supreme Court justices.
The Oversight Committee’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties panel convened for part 7 in a series this Congress to listen to witnesses in a hearing titled “Confronting White Supremacy: The Evolution of Anti-Democratic Extremist Groups and the Ongoing Threat to Democracy.”
Ms. Mace, South Carolina Republican, questioned the five witnesses and at one point singled out Alejandra Caraballo, a transgender woman who is a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic.
Ms. Mace asked each witness if they thought rhetoric on social media is a problem and a threat to democracy, and each answered affirmatively.
She then asked each of them if they believed rhetoric targeting officials with violence for carrying out their constitutional duties was a threat to democracy, and, again, each answered “yes.”
At this point, the South Carolina Republican thanked the witnesses and said, “only a few weeks after the attempted attack on a Supreme Court justice on June 25. One of the witnesses Alejandra Caraballo tweeted out the following in response to a decision on abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade, and I’ll quote directly from the tweet.”
“The six justices who overturned Roe should never know peace again. It is our civic duty to accost them every time they’re in public. They are pariahs. Since women don’t have their rights. These justices should never have a peaceful moment in public again,” the tweet read.
Watch @RepNancyMace destroy trans activist Alejandra Caraballo with “her” own tweets 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ignohVS6vH
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 13, 2022
Ms. Mace recalled the night of Jan, 5 when she was “physically accosted” in Washington’s Navy Yard by a constituent of hers and that she “fervently” blamed rhetoric on social media and at public events for that incident.
“I carry a gun everywhere I go when I am in my district, and when I’m at home because I know personally, that rhetoric has consequences. I’ve had my car keyed. I’ve had my house spray painted. I had someone trespass in my house as recently as August,” she said. “I’ve been doxxed on social media about where I live.”
Ms. Mace noted that Ms. Caraballo as recently as Nov. 19 stated that the Supreme Court is not a “legitimate court” and “is an organ of the far right.”
“Do you stand by these comments, this kind of rhetoric, social media? And do you believe it’s a threat to democracy?” She asked Ms. Caraballo.
Ms. Caraballo began by sating “thank you Representative for the opportunity to clarify and provide context to my tweets.”
Ms. Mace interjected.
“The question is yes or no? Do you believe your rhetoric is a threat to democracy when you’re calling to accost a branch of government – the Supreme Court?” she asked.
“I don’t believe that’s a correct characterization,” Ms. Caraballo said.
Ms. Mace asked, “Did you not tweet that you thought that the Supreme Court justices should be accosted?”
Caraballo replied, “What I’m saying is that’s not an accurate characterization of my statements.”
Ms. Mace concluded by detailing the arrest of Nicholas Roske, the man charged in the June 8 assassination attempt of Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his Maryland home.
