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Arkansas Lawmaker Says Nazis, KKK Akin To Black Lives Matter

Rep. Bob Ballinger (R-Hindsville) in 2015.
Sarah Whites-Koditschek
/
KUAR News
Rep. Bob Ballinger (R-Hindsville) in 2015.
Rep. Bob Ballinger (R-Hindsville) in 2015.
Credit Sarah Whites-Koditschek / KUAR News
/
KUAR News
Rep. Bob Ballinger (R-Hindsville) in 2015.

While Arkansas's U.S. Senators have roundly condemned white nationalists that rallied and rioted in Virginia this weekend, some members of the Arkansas Legislature are equating Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen with Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ activists.

On Wednesday morning State Representative Bob Ballinger tweeted:

The Republican out of Hindsville in Madison County was hardly alone in his sentiment. His colleague in the upper chamber, Senator Jason Rapert chimed in earlier in the week on Facebook.

Prior to that the Republican from Bigelow made a direct comparison between Nazis and those supporting equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and queer individuals. Rapert, on Facebook, was referencing a case with a florist and not Charlottesville.

"The LGBT activists who behave as Nazis are trying to ruin anyone who "disagrees" with them - even grandmothers. Simply believing in the Bible is offensive to these activists. They can't stand it if you disagree. They demand full compliance with their diminished morality. They clearly behave just like the "brown shirts" and "SS" troops that Nazis used to destroy Jews and anyone who disagreed with the Nazi ideology."

The Republican Party in Arkansas, which controls super majorities in both legislative chambers, certainly has a range of responses. 

Senate Majority Leader Jim Hendren helped lead the charge on a successful bid to separate Robert E. Lee Day from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. He tangentially commented on Charlottesville on Wednesday. Hendren and Democratic State Senator Joyce Elliott had wanted the Legislature to consider how to improve race relations.

Copyright 2017 KUAR

Jacob Kauffman is a reporter and anchor for KUAR. He primarily covers the state legislature and politics beat while juggling anchoring Morning Edition Monday through Friday.
Arkansas Politics Blog