Gabe Evans Fires Back At Hakeem Jeffries After Dem Leader Calls Him An 'Embarrassment'

Forbes Breaking News

At a House Republican press briefing on Tuesday, Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) spoke about his resolution on Boulder, Colorado.

Transcript

00:00I'll move the box.

00:06Well, thank you, Chairwoman. Thank you, Speaker, for grabbing the box there.

00:09Gabe Evans, Colorado's 8th Congressional District.

00:12And I'm here today because of my resolution that passed the House yesterday

00:17with broad bipartisan support condemning the anti-Semitic, fire-bombing, terrorist attack

00:24that occurred in Boulder, Colorado, which is about 20 miles away from my house, where I live.

00:28I'm here today because 15 people and a dog were burned by an individual

00:34with known jihadi-leaning affiliations who was illegally present in the United States

00:40and who was denied a firearm purchase when he tried to buy a gun in November of last year.

00:47And so, of course, the very first thing in this situation is our thoughts and our condolences,

00:52of course, go out to the victims and to the Jewish community

00:56that are suffering from this rising anti-Semitism.

00:59But more than that, we have to ask ourselves, why?

01:03Why is this happening? Thoughts and condolences aren't enough.

01:07And for me, that's personally very meaningful because of my background.

01:11I spent 12 years in the U.S. Army.

01:13I deployed overseas to a combat zone as part of the global war on terror

01:16when my oldest son was five months old.

01:19I didn't get back until he was 18 months old.

01:22I missed every first.

01:24First steps, first words, first Christmas, first birthday.

01:28Then I served another 10 years in law enforcement with the city of Arvada,

01:31which is a major suburb just to the west of Denver, immediately south of Boulder, Colorado.

01:36I've responded as both a National Guardsman and as a police officer

01:40to previous tragedies in Boulder, Colorado.

01:44And so for me to now wake up on June 1st and see this tragic event that's happened,

01:51of course, thoughts and condolences.

01:53But we have to do more.

01:54We have to ask the question, why does this continue to happen?

01:58We've already gone over the facts of the case here.

02:01An illegal, an individually legally present in the United States overstayed two separate visas

02:07with known public statements prior to his admission into the United States,

02:12sympathizing with an organization with jihadist-leaning tendencies

02:16at a time of heightened anti-Semitism,

02:20goes and he tries to buy a gun last November,

02:23is denied, and that doesn't pop up on anyone's radar?

02:27There's no ability to intervene or inaddict or at least figure out what's going on here,

02:31put this to a little bit more scrutiny?

02:33As a cop and a soldier for 22 years, I know that we should be doing that.

02:38That was literally the point of the 9-11 Commission

02:41after the September 11th terrorist attacks,

02:43which says that to be able to identify and intervene before terrorism occurs in the United States,

02:49federal, state, and local law enforcement need to be able to share information.

02:54We need to have all of the pieces of the puzzle together,

02:57and when some of those reside with local law enforcement, state officials, and federal authorities,

03:02if they cannot share that information,

03:04then we're trying to put together a puzzle without all of the pieces,

03:07and that makes it difficult to be able to identify and intervene before these attacks happen.

03:14And unfortunately, in my Colorado, which is a sanctuary state that prohibits, at times,

03:20state and local law enforcement from being able to work with federal authorities,

03:24I can't help but wonder if this attack might have been prevented

03:28had the Colorado Bureau of Investigation,

03:30which is who does the background checks for firearm purchases in Colorado,

03:34had they been able to flag that for one of the multiple different entities

03:38that have been set up to share that information

03:40and prevent something like this from happening.

03:43So that is the point of the resolution that I brought last night,

03:47which, I would remind everyone, passed with broad bipartisan support.

03:52It's been said that this is politicizing a tragedy.

03:55Blatantly false.

03:56This is a tragedy that occurred because of failed politics.

04:01And so thoughts and condolences are important, but they are not enough.

04:04And so the same way I did for 22 years in the military and law enforcement,

04:08seeking solutions, elevating the conversations that make our communities safe,

04:13that is the point of the resolution last night.

04:15And to be personally attacked by the minority leader of the other party

04:20for elevating that conversation,

04:22when 75 of his own members stood with me,

04:26that is the politicization of a tragedy.

04:29And so from the bottom of my heart to the Jewish community,

04:33we stand with you.

04:34From the bottom of my heart to Americans and to Coloradans

04:38who right now are suffering from the second most dangerous state in the country,

04:43we are focused on solutions to prevent things like this from happening again.

04:47And to my Democrat colleagues, including Representative Neguse,

04:52who stood with me and voted for this resolution last night,

04:56thank you.

04:57Thank you for helping to elevate this conversation that is focused on solutions

05:03to make sure that we keep our communities safe

05:06and that we, in no uncertain terms, condemn anti-Semitic attacks.

05:11And that we thank the law enforcement officials

05:14who are working so tirelessly to keep us safe

05:17from all of the bad folks that are out there

05:20and that do have malicious intent to cause harm

05:23to Americans, to Coloradans,

05:25and unfortunately to the Jewish community.

05:27Thank you so much.

05:27Yield.

05:28Thank you so much.

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