Last month, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Frisco) submitted House Bill 250 which would protect drivers against lawsuits if they were to hit protesters that were in their right-of-way. It's already been reported that the bill would not pass as the state's special session has already ended. But the symbolic nature of even creating such a bill has already created plenty of heated debate online.
Encouraging vehicular homicide
On Saturday July 12, 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed when a self-proclaimed white nationalist plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters.
The act follows months, even years of comments on social media where conservatives had expressed their frustration for the assembly of groups such as Black Lives Matter protesters and threatened to run them over for obstructing traffic during their protests. Many protests have been blamed for stopping traffic which has frustrated many citizens.
Fallon's bill would be an attempt to find a niche in the already established view that a hit-and-run is already a second degree felony in the state of Texas. The Texas lawmaker acknowledged the events of August 12 as he admitted to the Dallas Morning News last Monday that he had received hundreds of angry responses from "leftists" for his bill. He also told the media source that there was no room for that kind of action and that he was "incredibly offended" that people made a connection to his bill to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
He posted his response on his Facebook page where he also targeted the "alt left".
Breaking down Fallon's comment
In the thread for Fallon's comment, many commenters -- including me -- attempted to break down Fallon's intentions in his response. For instance, the way he started off his comment he goes directly to attacking the "alt left" as those who sent him angry emails about his bill after the weekend incident.
There's the view that while the anti-fascist groups ("leftists) have acted aggressively to confront right-wing hate groups at similar rallies, it's those hate groups who have had the support of right wing anti-government militias who usually show up at the rallies fully armed.
Boxing challenge
My comment was that Fallon was inciting more division in his response, only a day after President Trump used the power of office to frame the "alt left" at a hostile press conference where he also blamed them for being equally responsible for the violence.
I also commented to Fallon that he knew the bill would not pass and that the specific target of who the bill would protect, revealed his effort to divide. It should also be noted that in one of my responses to his hostile attacks against to one of the commenters in the thread, I challenged him to several rounds in the boxing ring. Rep. Fallon clearly read my comment and blocked me from his page.