White supremacist Avi Rachlin shamelessly dropped the N-word during a Michigan Senate committee hearing on Thursday (Nov. 14). The slur was used after he falsely said lawmakers were attacking the gun rights of white people following President-elect Donald Trumpâs win.
According to The Detroit News, Rachlin claimed he was representing âGroypers for America,â an alt-right extremist movement known for perpetuating racist and antisemitic rhetoric.
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He opened his remarks claiming that Democratsâ proposed legislation expanding a firearms ban went against the âwill of the people.â
âThis is legislation that targets White people,â Rachlin stated. âIt is racial because the people who carry in the Capitol are primarily white people…and this is retaliation for the only demographic that overwhelmingly voted to support Donald Trump.â
Rachlin then said that lawmakers should focus their sights on Black people who shoot others in places like Detroit. He then pointed out that the committeeâs chairwoman, Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, represents a portion of the city.
Rachlin referred to those Black folks as âoverwhelmingly 13 to 34 year old Sub-Saharan African n******.â
Chang hit her gavel in response and said the committee was going to move on.
âAre you going to have armed guards remove me?â Rachlin asked. âArmed men with guns?â
Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, asked, âDid I just hear you call a group of people by some epithet?â
âYes,â Rachlin said.
Runestad balked at Rachlinâs racist statement. âItâs just a ridiculous argument,â he said. âThe term that you used is inappropriate. And it will not get you anywhere in this Legislature.â
Ultimately, the committee voted 4-2 to send the bills to the full Senate. Currently, visitors to the Michigan Capitol are banned from bringing firearms into the building unless they are security or law enforcement.
Back in 2020, Democratic lawmakers requested a change to firearm regulations in the Capitol when armed demonstrators and militia members went into the building demanding an end to COVID-19.
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