On the recordMarch 28, 2023
yesterday the Nation witnessed a murderous rampage at an elementary school, a small Christian school in Nashville, TN. Tragically, three small children, 9 years old, lost their lives; three employees of this school lost their lives. And even as I am on this floor now, Nashville police are releasing the body cam footage of the officers who responded with heroic speed and heroic courage to the deranged individual who made her way into that school and was executing students and teachers one by one. Those officers deserve to be praised; they deserve to be thanked; they deserve to be honored for what they did and for the lives that they saved. We must also tell the truth about what happened yesterday in Nashville. This murderous rampage, this taking of innocent life was a horrific crime; but, more specifically, it was a hate crime. A crime that, according to Nashville police, specifically targeted--that is their word--targeted the members of this Christian community, the members of this religious institution, its students, its educators, its employees. Let's be clear, Federal law prohibits the targeting of violence against any American on the basis of religious affiliation or religious practice or religious belief. But that is, according to police, exactly what we saw happen yesterday. The members of this community were singled out because of their religious affiliation.…
