Missouri Rep. Warren Love: Ethics Panel Reviewing Complaint Over Rope Hanging Comment

JEFFERSON CITY, MO — Missouri state Rep. Warren Love expressed hope in a Facebook post that the person responsible for defacing a Confederate monument in Springfield, Missouri, would be "hung from a tall tree with a long rope." Now, the Missouri House Ethics Committee is reviewing a complaint against him.

On Monday, members of the Missouri House Ethics Committee agreed to hold a preliminary hearing later on the complaint, though they did not reveal a date.

Love said he was using old cowboy jargon, but Democrats called for his resignation and said his language evoked images of lynchings of black people.

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty filed the ethics complaint against Love. She said she's frustrated that it has taken so long, but that House procedures are being followed. (For more information on Warren Love and other Across 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.)

Love represents District 125, north of Springfield, which includes Wheatland and Warsaw.

Photo credit: Kelley McCall/Associated Press