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The dual mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, over the weekend prompted predictable outrage and hand-wringing from Maryland politicians.
But none of the expressions of outrage were more noteworthy than those that have come over the past two days from the Twitter account of state Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr.
The lawmaker represents a rural district on the Eastern Shore. And he also happens to be Senate minority whip 鈥� the No. 2 Republican in the chamber.
Hershey鈥檚 statements since the shootings have been as pointed as any elected Republican鈥檚 鈥� and they seem surprising, because he has been a strong defender of the Second Amendment and hunters鈥� rights during his nine years in the General Assembly. He also appears to be cautioning fellow Republicans about their reluctance to criticize white supremacists.
Here are some samples:
鈥淚鈥檓 done with the thoughts and prayers,鈥� Hershey said in his first tweet on Sunday afternoon. 鈥淚鈥檓 done with the phony outrage from scores of politicians. I鈥檓 angry. I鈥檓 horrified. I鈥檓 devastated. Our American culture is suffering. Let鈥檚 call this what it is: A white nationalist committed an act of terrorism.鈥�
A little later in the day, Hershey wrote, 鈥淗ow many more times are we going to use 鈥榤ental illness鈥� as the standard response to a mass shooting? That crutch has been worn thin. Here鈥檚 what happened in聽: A guy drove hundreds of miles and committed an act of terrorism. This guy is a hateful white nationalist. Period.鈥�
And later on Sunday, Hershey wrote, 鈥淲hy are so many politicians afraid to call a spade a spade? White supremacy & white nationalism is on the rise in America. And now it has manifested into mass shootings. A pattern becomes a data point. We know the who, the what & the why; we have to prevent the next when & where.鈥�
On Monday, Hershey tweeted a message directly to President Trump: 鈥淢r. President: The El Paso gunman is a wicked man. He鈥檚 also a terrorist and a he鈥檚 a white nationalist. The first step in solving any problem is admitting that we have one. We have a white nationalist and white supremacy problem in America. Call it out,聽鈥�
An hour later, after Trump went on Twitter blaming 鈥渇ake news鈥� for fanning anger in the country, Hershey felt compelled to reply.
鈥淎nd politicians have a 鈥渂ig responsibility鈥� not to pass the buck. Unfair media coverage isn鈥檛 the culprit of mass shootings,鈥� he wrote.
On Monday afternoon, when聽The Washington Post聽linked to a story about an Ohio state legislator who blamed the mass shootings on 鈥渄rag queen advocates,鈥� Colin Kaepernick and President Obama, Hershey tweeted, 鈥淒oes this Ohio Republican have a Republican primary challenger 鈥� someone who didn鈥檛 just teleport from the 1950鈥檚? This kind of rhetoric is embarrassing and disgusting. And damnit, Republicans have got to be better than this. We Republicans need to demand better.鈥�
So what鈥檚 going on with Senator Hershey?
In a phone interview Monday from the National Conference of State Legislatures convention in Nashville, Tennessee 鈥� where the shootings have been topic A among the hundreds of lawmakers attending from across the country 鈥� Hershey said he was moved by personal connections to speak out about recent acts of violence.
鈥淟ast year, the event at The Capital hit close to home,鈥� Hershey said, referring to the fatal shooting of five staffers at the Annapolis newspaper, The Capital Gazette, in June 2018.
The senator said he was equally impacted by the shooting rampage last week at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. Hershey, an engineer by trade, said he has spent a total of a year-and-a-half working in Gilroy, building a shopping center there, and has attended the world-famous garlic festival.
鈥淚 felt that I wanted to say something,鈥� Hershey said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to find a way to prevent these kinds of events.鈥�
He repeated his tweeted assertion that gun rights advocates and Republicans who blame mental illness for the spate of gun violence around the U.S. are using 鈥渁 crutch.鈥�
Hershey said several colleagues 鈥� Republicans and Democrats 鈥� have reached out to him since he began tweeting on the weekend shootings.
鈥淪ome have been very forthright and said, 鈥榯hanks for your comments,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e also gotten some texts that said, 鈥楬ey man, thanks a lot. We as Republicans need to stop hiding from these events.鈥欌��
Hershey conceded that Republicans can find themselves in an awkward place when it comes to gun safety.
鈥淥bviously, as Republicans, we鈥檙e very protective of our Second Amendment, and I鈥檓 not trying to do anything to weaken that,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we have to make sure that guns don鈥檛 get into the hands of the wrong people.鈥�
On the other hand, Hershey said, Democrats who call for severe restrictions or outright bans on gun use are 鈥渘a茂ve.鈥�
Hershey said finding bipartisan solutions to combating gun violence is going to require 鈥渉ard work.鈥� And while Maryland is ahead of many states when it comes to enacting gun control laws, Hershey said he鈥檇 like to see an in-depth study of the comprehensive gun safety laws the state passed under former Gov. Martin J. O鈥橫alley (D) in 2014 (as a general principle, Hershey said he thinks all major state laws should undergo in-depth reviews after five years).
But in a conservative district 鈥� which gave almost 66% of the vote to President Trump in 2016 鈥� and in a conservative Senate GOP caucus, could Hershey鈥檚 statements in the aftermath of El Paso and Dayton present political problems for him in the future?
Jim Burton, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the state GOP, said Hershey was expressing what most Republicans are thinking since the weekend鈥檚 mass shootings.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question Republicans are devastated, horrified and angry,鈥� he said. 鈥淣obody in a Republican primary is going to disagree with something like this.鈥�
Burton said he did not believe Hershey faces any kind of political danger because of his extensive tweeting on the subject.
Hershey also professes not to be concerned.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 worry about those things now,鈥� he said.
jkurtz@marylandmatters.org
