Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) blasted Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) as an “absolute disgrace” as the two got into a shouting match Tuesday during a heated congressional hearing on the victims of sanctuary city policies.
Lawler erupted after being interrupted multiple times by Democrats as he laid out the details leading up to the heinous murder of New York teenager Sheridan Gorman in Chicago.
The Republican congressman blamed the Biden administration’s open border policies and failure to deport the Loyola University student’s accused killer, an illegal migrant from Venezuela, before he allegedly gunned her down on March 19.
“You may not want to hear the details. It may be an inconvenience to you, but the details matter,” Lawler said calmly after Rep. Pramilia Jayapal took issue with the New York pol making a lengthy statement rather than quickly introducing Gorman’s grieving mother, Jessica.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, asked Lawler to wrap it up, citing an agreement with the Democrats on the panel on the form of introductions.
Undeterred, Lawler continued: “When you send your kid to college, you should be worried about making sure they go to class or hopefully that they have a nice roommate or how to help them get a summer internship. Not worried that illegal immigrants are shooting them while they’re out with their friends looking at the northern lights.”
The congressman went on to scold Democrats for seemingly being more concerned about the deaths of anti-ICE protesters than the victims of migrant crime.
“The same outrage you feel about Renée Good and Alex Pretti you should feel about Sheridan Gorman and Laken Riley,” Lawler fumed.
Raskin shot back: “I do feel that outrage.”
“You do not!” Lawler raged.” Because if you did you would not support sanctuary jurisdictions
“You should be ashamed of yourself!”
Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, noted that Lawler was not a member of the panel and asked him to “get the hell out” as they both shouted over each other.
“You don’t understand the rules of the committee. You don’t understand the Constitution. You’re full of it!” Raskin yelled.
“You’re an absolute disgrace for supporting sanctuary policies,” Lawler countered.
“Say one word about Alex Pretti and Renée Good,” Raskin demanded.
To which Lawker responded, “I did! I wrote a whole New York Times op-ed about it.”
“You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself for not opposing sanctuary policies that resulted in their daughter’s death!” he added, ending the argument.
Nelly Decker, a spokeswoman for Raskin, argued the Maryland Democrat’s outburst was justified.
“Of course Raskin yelled at [Lawler], he was a guest in the committee to introduce a witness and went on a tangent and sullied the names of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” Decker wrote on X.
In a subsequent post, she accused Lawler of being “too busy planning his Fox moment in the committee hearing he was a guest at to actually pay attention to RM Raskin’s opening.”
Decker noted Raskin acknowledged “the devastating loss of our witnesses” in his remarks.
In her opening statement, Jessica Gorman demanded lawmakers explain when and why “protecting our American citizens stopped being your first priority.”
“This story is about my Sheridan. It’s about how failed border policies, sanctuary-city laws and twisted leaders refusing to cooperate with ICE sent her to her grave. It’s about a government and politicians that forgot their first priority,” Jessica said.
“But first I want you to know who Sheridan was. I want you to understand what we all lost because of your mismatched priorities.”
