A Michigan state representative is facing a censure effort after she appeared to warn supporters of President Donald Trump in a video posted on social media Tuesday.
State Rep. Cynthia Johnson (D-MI), who gained notoriety last week after sparring with Michigan House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Matt Hall (R) during a vote fraud hearing featuring Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, posted this on Facebook:
Johnson thanked “everyone who is supporting our efforts, and when I say our efforts, I’m talking about doing things right and in order. There’s a good way to do it, and a fucked up way to do it,” she said vaguely.
“Always provide proof. Nobody cares what your mouth is saying. Provide proof,” Johnson said.
She advised her supporters not to cuss out their opponents.
She told them, “Be smart. You don’t have to yell. You don’t have to curse anybody out. You don’t have to call people names. Hit their asses in the pocketbook,” apparently referring to fines and fees associated with dealing with the criminal justice system.
She alleged someone from Illinois had left her a threatening message, but the FBI and state police “found her.”
“So this is just a warning to you Trumpers: Be careful. Walk lightly. We ain’t playing with you,” Johnson, who recently was reelected in Detroit with 93.4 percent of the vote, said. “Enough of the shenanigans. Enough is enough. And for those of you who are soldiers, you know how to do it,” she said ominously.
“Do it right,” Johnson ordered. “Be in order. Make them pay.”
Johnson appears to have shot the video Tuesday, around the time of an evening appearance on CNN.
“I believe she should be removed from the House floor and her committees until she can prove herself to be under control,” state Rep. Michele Hoitenga (R-Cadillac) told Breitbart News.
Members of the Republican caucus are asking for Johnson to be censured, she added.
Hoitenga said numerous Michigan legislators, herself included, have received threatening messages from critics.
“We know that it comes with the territory,” she said.
“When you are an elected official, you can’t respond to threats with more threats.”
House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R) and Speaker-elect Jason Wentworth (R) issued a joint statement:
Threats to either Democrats or Republicans are unacceptable and un-American. They’re even more unbecoming of an elected official. Rep. Johnson has been removed from her committee assignments, and we are looking into further disciplinary action as the proper authorities conduct their own investigations.
We have been consistent in our position on this — violence and intimidation is never appropriate in politics. We have said that about threats against Gov. [Gretchen] Whitmer, Secretary [Jocelyn] Benson, Rep. Johnson herself, and others. That applies to threats made toward public officials, and it must also apply when the threats come from public officials. Behavior like this will not be tolerated this term or next.
Neither Chatfield nor Hoitenga indicated when further action my occur.
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays — download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.
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