Montana lawmaker claims socialists should be shot, jailed

“Town Crier” newsletter – Briefs from the Region (1) – 2/4/20

A Montana Republican gathering held in Helena last weekend geared toward kicking off the election season and to offer training for party members and candidates, state Rep. Rodney Garcia declared that socialists should be shot or jailed, per the U.S. Constitution. Garcia was swiftly condemned for his comments, according to The Billings Gazette. While unable to pinpoint the source of this belief in the Constitution when questioned, he stuck to his position telling a reporter, “So actually in the Constitution of the United States [if] they are found guilty of being a socialist member you either go to prison or are shot… They’re enemies of the free state,” Garcia said. “What do we do with our enemies in war? In Vietnam, [Afghanistan], all those. What did we do?” Garcia, from House District 52, has a somewhat unsavory record accusing child-protection workers of kidnapping children, calling single mothers deadbeats, manufacturing a campaign cash scam, flaunting a domestic abuse conviction, and suggesting the state of Montana should buy the Colstrip power plant. His comments mirror what many claim is a larger, nationwide campaign to malign people with socialist philosophical ideals before the upcoming election, lending them a “boogeyman-like” quality.