Latino Republicans Want Racist Senator Booted

As NewsTaco reported yesterday, a state Senator from Kansas made disturbing and extremely disparaging remarks about undocumented immigrants, suggesting that they should be shot from helicopters, like feral hogs. The reaction has been swift and substantial. The Senator, Virgil Peck, has apologized, reluctantly. His comments have been condemned by leaders of both political parties and now a Latino Republican group, Somos Republicans, has called for Peck’s removal from a key committee position.

This is Somos Republicans official statement:

SOMOS REPUBLICANS will always recognize a human’s right to err, and we thank Representative Virgil Peck for recognizing his mistake.

We believe that Peck cannot be entrusted the responsibility to serve as chairman of the Transportation and Public Safety Budget Committee, and we ask for the removal of Peck’s chairmanship by the Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike O’Neal, and Majority Leader, Rep. Arlen Siegfried. Peck has advocated violence in a civil society, and provoking violence should not be tolerated.  Encouraging the shooting of people proves his inability to serve as chairman of a Public Safety Committee, and we hope to see Kansas Republican leadership replace him with a person who has reasonable and sound solutions to offer when conducting official business on the state floor.

We would like to especially thank Senator Roger P. Reitz M.D., Representatives Marc Rhoades, Louis Ruiz, Greg Smith, Annie Kuether, Geraldine Flaharty, and especially  Peggy Mast (endorsed by the Kansas Agri Business Council) for replying to us and immediately condemning these remarks.

There should be zero tolerance for advocating violence, and as such, we anticipate the Kansas Republican leadership’s removal of Peck’s Chairmanship due to the seriousness of this issue because we have watched hate crimes increase and Latinos murdered over this issue in the State of Arizona – the place of our headquarters.

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda