Sen. Cruz on Violent Mobs: ‘This Is the Consequence of the Radical and Extreme Left’
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) this week appeared Fox News' Hannity and Fox News' Shannon Bream to discuss the Restitution for Economic losses Caused by Leaders who Allow Insurrection and Mayhem (RECLAIM) Act, new legislation he introduced this week to hold state and local officials liable when rioters establish lawless ‘autonomous zones' and officials abdicate their duty to protect their citizens.
WATCH: Cruz Strikes Back at Dems: You're Abandoning Oath to Protect People You Serve
WATCH: CRUZ on Hannity: RECLAIM Act Will Hold Officials Liable When They Abdicate Duty to Protect Citizens
ON THE RECLAIM ACT:
"I introduced this week legislation that if an elected official wrongfully denies their citizens the right to police protection in the situation of a riot, that you can sue them and get treble damages for any injuries you suffer or for any damage to your homes and your business. A lot of these Democratic politicians sat by as small businesses were looted and burned to the ground. Many of those small business owners were African-American or Hispanics. But the Democratic politicians didn't care. It was in what they defined as their partisan interest to allow the mob to rage. That's not right." (Sen. Cruz, Shannon Bream, 7/22/2020)
"This week, I'm introducing legislation in the U.S. Senate called the RECLAIM Act, that provides that anyone who's physically harmed in a lawless autonomous zone or in a riot, or anyone whose business is destroyed or home is damaged, that they have a right to sue the local officials, the mayor, the local officials if they have pulled the police out. If they have willingly ceded authority to a lawless zone and refused to provide law enforcement, then you are entitled to treble damages against these lawless Democratic officials that are allowing people to be killed. And tragically, what these Democrats are doing is racist because the consequence of this [...] is that a lot more black lives are being lost, a lot more Hispanic lives are being lost, a lot more white lives are being lost. Murders need to stop, and it's the Democrats creating the environment for this, and it's wrong." (Sen. Cruz, Hannity, 7/21/2020)
ON THE VIOLENT MOBS:
"This is the consequence of the radical and extreme left. When you're threatening to abolish the police, when you're threatening to defund the police, when you're holding the police back from doing their jobs [...] we know there are going to be more physical assaults, more sexual assaults. And it isn't complicated, don't commit violent crime and if you commit violent crime, you need to be arrested and locked up and you need to be put in jail. The Democrats who are facilitating this, they are making a cynical, political judgment, it's in their partisan interest." (Sen. Cruz, Hannity, 7/21/2020)
"This shouldn't be complicated. These are pretty simple rules in life. Don't physically hurt someone else. Don't assault somebody else. Don't burn their business to the ground. Don't murder somebody else. But yet, the violent mobs aren't following that." (Sen. Cruz, Shannon Bream, 7/22/2020)
WATCH: Antifa's Terrorist Assault on America
WATCH: We Will Defend America Against Violent Anarchists
As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on The Constitution, Sen. Cruz is leading the fight to hold Antifa accountable for the violence and destruction that has torn apart major U.S. cities. Next week, Sen. Cruz will convene a hearing highlighting how Antifa and other anti-American anarchists hijack peaceful protests to engage in riots and violence. Earlier this week, Sen. Cruz contributed an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal where he outlined a plan to take America's cities back from violent rioters. Read Sen. Cruz' latest op-ed here.
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