ARRESTS HAS BEEN MOUNTING ALL WEEK. AS THOSE PROTESTS CONTINUE, A VERMONTER WHO REPRESENTS THE STATE GOP AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, IS NOW UNDER SOME SCRUTINY FOR POSTS HE MADE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. ONE OF THEM APPEARS TO CALL FOR PROTESTERS TO BE SHOT WITH LIVE AMMUNITION. NBC5’S ALEXIS CRANDALL JOINS US LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM WITH MORE ON THIS. ALEXIS. JAKE AND LAUREN, JOSHUA DOVER CONFIRMED TO US TODAY THAT THE POSTS ARE REAL, BUT HE SAYS THEY LACK CONTEXT. BACK OVER. RAN AGAINST STATE TREASURER MIKE PETSCHEK FOR THE OFFICE LAST YEAR. HE’S BEEN THE RNC COMMITTEEMAN FOR THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE SINCE LAST JULY. NBC FIVE OBTAINED THE SCREEN GRABS OF SOME OF THE POSTS MADE THIS WEEK. THEY CALL THE PROTESTS ANTI AMERICAN FORCES GATHERING LIKE MURDERS OF CROWS IN AMERICAN URBAN CENTERS. ANOTHER GOES ON TO SAY YES, I SUPPORT DISPERSING THESE CCP AGENTS WITH LIVE ROUNDS. WHEN I ASKED HIM ABOUT THESE POSTS BACK OVER SAYS THEY’RE FROM A PRIVATE DISCUSSION ON HIS PERSONAL PAGE ABOUT THE LIMITS PLACED ON LAW ENFORCEMENT DURING VIOLENT UNREST, AND THAT IT’S UNFORTUNATE ONLY PARTS OF THE DISCUSSION ARE BEING CIRCULATED INSTEAD OF THE FULL CONTEXT OF HIS POST. BECK, HOWEVER, SAYS HE’S TAKEN DOWN THE POST SINCE IT DOES NOT REFLECT THE FULL CONVERSATION. ATTORNEY GENERAL CHARITY CLARK PUT OUT A STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO THE PROTESTS HAPPENING NATIONWIDE, SAYING THE FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE WORKING WITH LOCAL LEADERS TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE, NOT MOBILIZING THE MILITARY AGAINST THE AMERICAN P
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VT RNC committeeman says Facebook posts taken “out of context”
Bechhoefer says he has taken the posts down since they do not reflect the full conversation
As protests in Los Angeles and across the country continue, Joshua Bechhoefer, the RNC committeeman for Vermont, is under fire for posts he made on Facebook about the protests. One of them appears to call for protestors to be shot with live ammunition.Bechhoefer confirmed to NBC5 today that the posts are real, but he says they lack context.Some of the posts made this week call the protests “anti-American forces gathering like murders of crows in American urban centers.” Another goes on to say, “Yes, I support dispersing these CCP agents with live rounds.”About these posts, Bechhoefer said:”The screenshots being circulated are from a private discussion on my personal page and lack the full context of what was said. I was commenting in a broader thread about the limits of law enforcement response during violent unrest (use of improvised explosives, Molotov cocktails, cinder blocks dropped from overpasses) I’ve since taken the post down because it’s clear it was being misunderstood and used in a way that doesn’t reflect the full conversation. Moreover it’s with the understanding that our law enforcement has their hands tied.”It’s unfortunate that only fragments of that discussion are being shared, without context — that kind of selective presentation can easily distort meaning.”Bechhoefer says he has taken the posts down since they do not reflect the full conversation.
As protests in Los Angeles and across the country continue, Joshua Bechhoefer, the RNC committeeman for Vermont, is under fire for posts he made on Facebook about the protests.
One of them appears to call for protestors to be shot with live ammunition.
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Bechhoefer confirmed to NBC5 today that the posts are real, but he says they lack context.
Some of the posts made this week call the protests “anti-American forces gathering like murders of crows in American urban centers.”
Another goes on to say, “Yes, I support dispersing these CCP agents with live rounds.”
About these posts, Bechhoefer said:
“The screenshots being circulated are from a private discussion on my personal page and lack the full context of what was said. I was commenting in a broader thread about the limits of law enforcement response during violent unrest (use of improvised explosives, Molotov cocktails, cinder blocks dropped from overpasses) I’ve since taken the post down because it’s clear it was being misunderstood and used in a way that doesn’t reflect the full conversation. Moreover it’s with the understanding that our law enforcement has their hands tied.
“It’s unfortunate that only fragments of that discussion are being shared, without context — that kind of selective presentation can easily distort meaning.”
Bechhoefer says he has taken the posts down since they do not reflect the full conversation.
