Make a note of this name. Virgil Peck. Rhymes with Glenn Beck. He's a Republican State Legislator in Kansas.
Several news outlets including NY Daily News, Daily Mail and TPM have reported his remarks, but I didn't see them posted here.
From the Daily Mail:
Mr Peck made his comment during a discussion by the House Appropriations Committee on state spending for controlling feral swine.
After one of the committee members talked about a program that uses hunters in helicopters to shoot wild swine, Mr Peck suggested that may be a way to control illegal immigration.
He said: 'It looks like to me if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works maybe we have found (a solution) to our illegal immigration problem.'
He said most of his constituents are upset with illegal immigration and the state and federal government response.
Appropriations Chairman Marc Rhoades, said Mr Peck’s comment was inappropriate.
Mr Rhoades said he thought Mr Peck was joking, but added, 'Hopefully he won’t do it again.'
Defiant, Mr Peck added that most of his constituents are extremely upset with illegal immigration and the state and federal government response.
Sure. Just joking.
NOT FUNNY.
Given the rising tide of hate crimes against Latinos across the US, this is not amusing at all. It is frightening.
His remarks are not just angering liberals and Democrats.
A national group of Latino Republicans, has issued this statement:
Phoenix, AZ – SOMOS REPUBLICANS are demanding an apology from Republican Kansas legislator, Virgil Peck, when he said it might be good to control illegal immigration the way the feral hog population has been controlled — with hunters shooting from helicopters. There are people advocating to shoot the heads off of “illegal Mexicans”, and Peck’s behavior is extremely violent and inappropriate.
We are sick and tired of the bigotry from state legislators who would rather advocate for violence and shooting people than to focus on reasonable solutions. Hasn’t Mr. Peck learned from the mistakes of Sarah Palin when she put what appeared to be gun sight crosshairs over our Congresswoman, Gabby Gifford’s district? Has he not learned what our Congresswoman stated to that regard? Fact of the matter, Rep. Peck is also using poor methods of communication when he said we needed to “shoot people from helicopters to control immigration”. In a time of extreme tension and occasional violence over illegal immigration, such as the slaughter of a Mexican-American family in Arizona including a nine-year old girl, allegedly by Minutemen, elected officials should refrain from the use of violent metaphors. Such violent metaphors can push some unstable people ‘over the edge.’ Right now we are dealing with increased hate crimes, and Peck’s behavior in essence advocates for more.
If Representative Virgil Peck does not apologize for his extremist comments, he will wind up permanently on our unfriendly to Hispanics list for the rest of his life, and his Kansas legend will be one of bigotry. We will also send a letter of complaint to all of those who have endorsed him, particularly the business communities who are supported by the Hispanic consumers in Kansas. We are horrified by his remarks and he is a disgrace to the Party that was founded by Abraham Lincoln.
So here's his website, email and phone numbers.
virgil.peck@house.ks.gov
Capitol Address
300 Southwest 10th Avenue, Room 561-W
Topeka, KS 66612-1588
Phone: 785-296-7641
District Address
Post Office Box 277
Tyro, KS 67364-0251
Phone: 620-879-2334
He needs to hear from all of us.