GALEO & the Anti-Defamation League Deeply Disturbed by Gwinnett County GOP Hosting Anti-Immigrant Speaker at Monthly Meeting

Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO (678) 691-1086 jerry@galeo.org

Georgia Groups Deeply Disturbed by Gwinnett County GOP Hosting Anti-Immigrant Speaker at Monthly Meeting

Atlanta, Georgia, October 3, 2019… The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) strongly condemn Gwinnett County GOP’s speaking invitation to D.A. King, someone who vocally supports and spews irrational hatred against immigrants, as the keynote speaker for their upcoming meeting. A nationally known figure who proudly touts racist and anti-Hispanic views, D.A. King has a long history of using words of hatred.

There are many examples of his problematic, racist language. In 2007 when speaking at a Newton County (Georgia) Republican Party meeting, Mr. King reportedly suggested that undocumented immigrants are “not here to mow your lawn – they’re here to blow up your buildings and kill your children, and you, and me.”  Mr. King has also asserted that the United States is “being invaded and colonized” by a “Mexican mob that brings with it a culture of lawlessness and chaos.” He has described Hispanic immigration in Georgia as the “Hispandering” of his state, which he calls “Georgiafornia.”

D.A. King’s support for anti-immigrant measures is well documented and has tied him to extreme elements of the anti-immigrant movement.  For instance, he has been a contributor to the racist website VDARE and The Social Contract, an anti-immigrant journal published and edited by racists.

More recently, Mr. King was the stand in speaker for Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway at a Town Hall Meeting put together by Gwinnett County Commissioner Marlene Fosque in July 2019.  His presence at the event that night not only displayed hypocrisy on behalf of a Gwinnett County government official, through the actions of Sherriff Butch Conway, but also shed further light on the anti-immigrant sentiment felt by many in Gwinnett County.

The stage provided to Mr. King in July is no different than the stage set for him this Saturday. The invitation from the GOP forces us to revisit the question: does King’s invitation as the featured speaker at a GOP meeting validate and normalize problematic anti-immigrant sentiment in Gwinnett County? Yes, it does.

While everyone is permitted to decide who they want to invite over for breakfast, we would expect that members of the Gwinnett County GOP would choose a better guest to host. We can only hope that the invitation for breakfast is not an indicator of what is to come from the Gwinnett County GOP and that the opportunity to make Georgia a safe space for all is still on the menu.

ADL is a leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all. Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of hate with the same vigor and passion. ADL is the first call when acts of anti-Semitism occur. A global leader in exposing extremism, delivering antibias education and fighting hate online, ADL’s ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate. More information at www.adl.org.

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