Sheila Jackson Lee: “I was in the United States Congress when the first hate crimes legislation was written. It was written after the heinous…”

“I was in the United States Congress when the first hate crimes legislation was written. It was written after the heinous killing of James Byrd in Texas, where a Black man was dragged through the streets of Texas and decapitated. Tomorrow, the President of the United States will go to Georgia, where eight people were killed, six of whom happen to be Asian women. Yet a captain in the Cherokee Sheriff's Department said that the perpetrator had a bad day. Mr. Speaker, wrapped in racism, white supremacy, and hatred, the Georgia law says that if you kill women, it may be a gender hatred crime. I want a full investigation. I believe in the Constitution due process, but this is a hate crime. People are dead, Asian women are dead, and this perpetrator should be held accountable. If you are in law enforcement, the best role that you have is as a fact finder and someone who can offer sympathy that makes sense, not that the perpetrator had a bad day and this is what he did. I am having a bad day because we still have hatred in this country. ____________________”