Missouri Lawmakers Take Action Against 2 Colleagues Over Controversial Comments

JEFFERSON CITY, MO — Missouri's Republican-led Senate on Wednesday voted to publicly censureDemocratic Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal over her Facebook post saying she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated. In a separate action, the House referred to an ethics panel a complaint about Republican Rep. Warren Love's post that said he hoped the person responsible for vandalizing a Confederate monument opponent would be "hung from a tall tree with a long rope."

The legislative actions come after comments posted last month amid a heated nationwide debate over Confederate monuments and white nationalist rallies.

Chappelle-Nadal wrote "I hope Trump is assassinated!" on her personal Facebook page and later deleted it.She has said the remark was made in frustration over Trump's response to a white nationalist rally in Virginia that descended into violence. Many leading Republicans and Democrats in Missouri have called for her resignation. (For more information on this and other Missouri stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Watch: The Missouri Senate Censured A Colleague Over Her Comments About Trump

Some also have called for Love to resign for his Facebook post. Love has said he was using old cowboy jargon for saying he hopes the vandal is prosecuted, but Democrats have said his words evoking images of lynchings of black residents.

Chappelle-Nadal is black and Love is white. Both have apologized and refuse to resign.

Some Republicans had called for Chapelle-Nadal to be ousted but that didn't happen Wednesday.

Instead, the Republican-dominated state Senate voted to publicly censure her. In a resolution, they again called for her to resign and warned that she still could be kicked out later. Chapelle-Nadal previously was removed from her committee assignments.

Love remains on committees, though House Speaker Todd Richardson said Wednesday that he still could be removed pending the outcome of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee review.

By SUMMER BALLENTINE and DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press

Photo credit: Jeff Roberson/Associated Press