NRA’s Dana Loesch Called For Journalists To Be ‘Curb-Stomped’ In Video Resurfaced After Newsroom Shooting
NRA Spokeswoman Dana Loesch is in hot water for video that resurfaced in the wake of the deadly Maryland newspaper shooting in which she advocated for journalists to be “curb stomped.”
On Thursday, an attack at the Maryland offices of the Capital Gazette left five people dead and many others injured. Police say a man with a longstanding grudge against the paper burst in with a shotgun and opened fire. In the wake of that attack, the footage of Loesch calling for violence against journalists has gone viral and attracted criticism both toward Loesch and the NRA for offering her a platform, the Independent reported.
In the clip, which was from a 2016 interview, Dana Loesch expressed her disdain toward journalists and said they should be “curb stomped,” an often deadly assault in which a victim is stomped in the back of their head is placed on a concrete curb and violently kicked from behind.
“I’m happy frankly to see them curb-stomped. I mean let’s be real about it,” she said. “These people are just the worst thing that could ever possibly happen to the American political system right now with the way that they cover so many things.”
Loesch went on to claim that the media unfairly covers topics like gun control and immigration, saying journalists are “rat ba****ds of the earth” and “the boil on the backside of American politics.”
The video was shared by activist Shaun King, who drew a sharp rebuke from Loesch who called him a “ghoul” for trying to equate her words with this week’s deadly shooting. Investigators have not said if the Maryland shooting suspect was influenced by calls from politicians and right-wing media outlets for violence toward journalists, and early indications appear that it is strictly related to his own longstanding feud with the newspaper.
Thursday’s shooting led to heightened security at newsrooms across the United States, with fears that the shooting could lead to copycat attacks.
The Capital Gazette attack prompted NYPD to tighten security at news organizations including at @nytimes, ABC News and Fox News https://t.co/3hGOSuGarl pic.twitter.com/KLLIK5UiCa
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 29, 2018
The video resurfaced months after Dana Loesch released an NRA video that many interpreted as a threat to journalists. Released in March, the ad for Loesch’s NRA TV show displayed an hourglass and said that time was up for “every lying member of the media,” as well as Hollywood activists and athletes who demonstrate during the national anthem.
As USA Today noted, the advertisement was widely seen as a veiled threat to these groups.
The report noted that writer Scott Porch asked Loesch on Twitter what happens when the time ran out, to which she replied, “My program starts.”
“Whew, I (thought) maybe you were gonna shoot somebody!” Porch replied.
Dana Loesch has made other veiled threats toward the media, including a 2017 ad in which she said the United States is in danger of being lost unless people will “fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth.”
