The low-hanging fruit for column topics of late has been Republican moral turpitude but this week a Colorado Democrat deserves the honor.
On October 7, Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,200 men, women, and children in a heinous surprise attack in southern Israel. The terrorists injured thousands more and took hostages whose whereabouts remain unknown. Before the blood could dry, Colorado Rep. Tim Hernández attended a rally “In Support of Palestinian resistance in Gaza” on the Colorado Capitol steps.
Hernández was appointed by a Democratic Party vacancy committee to fill the House District 4 seat in Denver earlier this year. The choice must seem a bit imprudent at this juncture. Perhaps committee members should have viewed Hernández ’s statements about the cultural revolution against whiteness and other radical leftist garbage as character-defining.
At the rally, Hernández also argued with a Jewish man who, passing by on his way to synagogue, stopped to question the lawmaker’s participation in the rally. In the video, which went viral on Twitter (no, I’m not calling it X, ever), the man, who goes by Russell, asked the lawmaker if he “condemned[ed] the murder of women and children in the streets by Palestinian terrorists?” Hernandez replied, “I condemn any form of colonial violence perpetuated upon any group of people.”
Does he think the slaughter of Israeli civilians is “colonial violence?” More likely he is trying to draw a moral equivalence between the beheading of children, murder of unarmed civilians, and raping of women by Hamas and the Israeli government’s actions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Such equivalence is utterly false. One can criticize the Israeli government’s actions towards Palestinians as unjust but one cannot equate such actions with Hamas’s barbarous attack.
Russell then asked Hernández if liberating Palestine involved murdering women and children. Hernández further equivocates, “I told you I believe in the liberation of Palestine. I’ve already answered that.” Does that mean yes? Sounds like it. After all, the Palestinian rally flyer stated that “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” suggesting butchery and rape are acceptable means of liberation.
After receiving criticism, Hernández released a statement generally condemning “oppression, human suffering, and attacking innocent people” but he did not specifically condemn Hamas’ slaughter of Israelis. He stated that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complicated. It is, but the morality of murder, rape, torture, and hostage-taking is not some grey area. These were acts of “sheer evil” to quote President Joe Biden, utterly inexcusable and they must be denounced in no uncertain terms.
Sadly, Hernández was not alone in his blame-the-victim approach to the October 7 atrocities. At Harvard University, 31 liberal student groups issued a joint statement saying they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” In New York, the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America held a rally similar to the one in Denver. Their chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” refers to the Mediterranean and the Jordan River and the land in between including all of Israel. They’re not talking about creating a single Jewish-Arab state; they’re advocating ethnic cleansing of all Jewish people from the region.
Several Democrat Members of the U.S. Congress might as well have been in that crowd according to their public statements. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) refused to condemn the attack and blamed Israel for creating “suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.” She and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) want the U.S. to end funding for Israel. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wants Israel to cease fire. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is worried about potential Israeli war crimes.
To their credit, several Colorado Democrats including state lawmakers Senate President Steve Fenberg, House Speaker Julie McCluckie, Majority Leader Monica Duran, State Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet as well as numerous Republican lawmakers have criticized Hernández’s participation in the rally “In Support of Palestinian resistance in Gaza.”
This is not enough. His presence at the rally, his comments caught on video, and his evasive public statement demonstrate that at best he lacks maturity for the position or at worst he believes heinous acts of violence are justifiable. Hernández was never elected to that house seat but he can be recalled from it.
Krista L. Kafer is a weekly Denver Post columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @kristakafer
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