Democrats staged their second “insurrection” in as many months as protesters invaded the Montana State Capitol to support a transgender lawmaker who was denied the right to speak because of incendiary comments.
The legislator, State Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-Missoula), claimed in a floor debate that Republican legislators who support a bill that would ban gender-transitioning drugs and surgery for minors had “blood on their hands.”
The remarks were seen as particularly offensive in the wake of the mass shooting by a transgender attacker at a Christian school last month, and because Zephyr mocked the legislators’ prayers: “If you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.” Zephyr’s remarks were ruled to be a violation of legislative decorum.
As the Helena Independent Record reported, protesters demonstrated outside the Capitol and then did so again from the gallery of the legislative chamber, violating the rules and disrupting democratic proceedings:
A large rally was held in support of Zephyr at noon on the Capitol steps Monday, and then people packed the gallery of the state House. After a bill that originally sought to ban drag show attendance by minors was bumped to the end of a long agenda, the crowd waited for hours before Zephyr tried to speak.
This is what Democrats, including President Joe Biden, and the mainstream media refer to as “insurrection.”
Left-wing protesters bang on the doors to the Montana House Gallery. They are there protesting a @MTFreedomCaucus led effort to censure a transgender Democrat who told them they had "blood on their hands" for banning child mutilation. pic.twitter.com/WhqPbg23dm
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) April 24, 2023
There were confrontations with law enforcement officers, and seven protesters were arrested, the paper reported:
A heavy law enforcement presence was visible at the Capitol on Monday with officers from the Montana Highway Patrol, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and the Helena Police Department. MHP, which holds the security contract for the Capitol, was posted in the gallery. As the crowd stood and yelled, and some threw red gloves onto the floor, officers attempted to move the crowd toward exits. Some in the crowd complied and others refused, leading to multiple arrests.
After a few minutes a line of officers in riot gear entered the House chamber and proceeded to the gallery, removing the remaining protestors.
Those arrested were charged with a misdemeanor and released without bond — in contrast to those arrested for non-violent trespassing and disrupting in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 many of whom were held for months before trial, with some pleading guilty to federal crimes, often felonies.
Last month, gun control advocates invaded the Tennessee legislature, and three Democrats assisted in disrupting proceedings. Republican lawmakers voted to expel two of the three from the legislature; they were later restored to their posts by local constituencies.
Far from being punished, the Tennessee “insurrectionists” were celebrated by the mainstream media, and Biden welcomed them to the White House on Monday.
Democrats have frequently occupied state capitols and staged disruptive protests — from the 2011 attempt to stop Gov. Scott Walker’s union reforms in Wisconsin, to protests against Georgia’s voting integrity law in 2021.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
