Colorado state Rep. Tim Hernandez belatedly denounced Hamas amid rising for his expulsion over his flippant refusal during a pro-Palestinian rally to condemn the terrorist group’s attack on Israelis.
Mr. Hernandez, a Democrat who was named in August to fill a legislative vacancy, said in a video post that “people who are harmed and suffering deserve our respect, and I have to apologize for the way that I caused harm in [the] community by not making that explicitly clear.”
“I condemn Hamas, and I condemn — in the strongest ways possible — all violence against civilians,” he tweeted. “My heart is heavy for the innocent Israeli and Palestinian lives lost. And I am sorry for the harm I have caused to many in the Jewish community and the Israeli community this week.”
Mr. Hernandez also took responsibility for liking and sharing posts that characterized the bloody attack on Israeli civilians, including women and children, as an act of resistance against Israeli “occupation.”
“I got here because of my choices, my online decisions, and because I wasn’t engaged with impacted community members,” he said. “I liked tweets that were harmful, and my lack of condemnation when I was asked a question at a rally during a tense exchange left people with a lot of painful questions.”
Mr. Hernandez, a 26-year-old public school teacher, joined an “emergency protest for Palestinian resistance” at the state Capitol on Oct. 7, the same day Hamas terrorists infiltrated into Israel from Palestinian territory in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,300 civilians.
In a now-viral video, Mr. Hernandez was asked whether he condemned “the murder of women and children in the streets by Palestinian terrorists.” He replied, “I condemn any form of colonial violence.”
The man who recorded the video, a local resident named Russell, told Mr. Hernandez he thought it was despicable “that you can’t condemn women and children and elderly people being murdered in the streets.”
“What about it?” Mr. Hernandez replied in the video posted on @_walruss.
Tim Hernandez (D-CO 4th) at a Hamas rally refusing to condemn the pogrom. Will @GovofCO @jaredpolis demand the expulsion of this open antisemite? https://t.co/EpgSJ4zWqx
— russ (@_walruss) October 10, 2023
The Colorado Republican Party called for him to “resign immediately,” while 15 of 19 House Republicans signed a letter calling for the House Democratic leadership to take “immediately those steps necessary to expel Rep. Hernandez for his actions supporting Hamas terrorists.”
Meanwhile, Democratic House leaders said they were “deeply disappointed” that he failed to “explicitly condemn the violent Hamas terrorist attacks on innocent Israelis.”
Mr. Hernandez responded initially by saying that he attended the rally to support the Palestinian people, not Hamas, but his reaction failed to quell the outrage.
This video feels desperate and coached.
“I condemn Hamas” after his Twitter likes, celebration of Hamas, and conduct on that awkward video that only 3+ million people saw…it rings hollow.
Tells us, @_timhernandez, what was the moment you realized you needed an about face? https://t.co/qGWIzBX7Mr
— George Brauchler (@GeorgeBrauchler) October 14, 2023
Not everyone accepted Mr. Hernandez’s belated apology, including KOA AM/FM radio host Ross Kaminsky.
“You’re a Marxist wannabe ‘gangsta,’” Mr. Kaminsky posted Sunday on the social-media site X. “I don’t accept your apology because I don’t believe you’re sincere. You’re just trying to find a way to stay in a position you should never have been given. You’ve been anti-American, anti-freedom and, presumably, anti-Semitic for far too long.”
Mr. Hernandez said he has since met with those who have relatives in Israel and the Palestinian territory.
“While I know that a statement by itself cannot undo the harm and hurt that I caused, I’m committed to engaging in healing conversations with humility with my colleagues, with the Jewish community, with the Israeli community, with the Palestinian community, and my constituents,” he said.
Colorado Democrats control both houses of the state legislature and all four of the statewide constitutional offices. Three of those four officeholders, including Gov. Jared Polis, are Jewish.
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