GOP rep doubles down on message to Hamas: 'Kill them all'
Rep. Andy Ogles stands by his call for Israel to kill every member of Hamas, despite backlash following a confrontation with pro-Palestinian activists.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., doubled down on his statement Thursday that Israel should kill every member of Hamas.
Ogles originally made the statement last week, when he was confronted by a group of pro-Palestinian activists on Capitol Hill. The group pursued him through several hallways, arguing about the events in Gaza.
"You know what? I think we should kill them all, if that makes you feel better. Everybody in Hamas," Ogles ultimately said.
Ogles addressed his own words with a follow-up statement on Thursday.
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"On October 7th, Hamas committed atrocities that are beyond normal comprehension and a manifestation of evil here on earth, including the rape and torture of infants, the rape and torture of young girls and boys, the rape and torture of women and men--including cutting off women's breasts while they were alive and being gang raped, the mutilation and removal of men's testicles, and of course, the slaughter of innocent lives," Ogles wrote.
"These terrorists deserve to die. I was clearly referencing Hamas terrorists during the exchange. Democrats and leftist media, who appear incapable of categorically denouncing the events of October 7th, are desperately attempting to shift blame," he added.
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"I stand by Israel and their right to punish Hamas on a scale of Biblical proportion, including their accomplices and the facilitators of the aforementioned atrocities. I stand by what I said: Death to Hamas," he concluded.
The pro-Palestinian activists who confronted Ogles had claimed that reports of the rape and torture of babies by Hamas were "fake news."
Israel has documented many of the most horrific crimes committed on Oct. 7 in a roughly 45-minute video shown to hundreds of members of the press.
Israeli officials have condemned efforts to downplay the crimes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7. Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy commented on such efforts last year.
"Now unfortunately, and I can't believe I'm saying this, and I can't believe that we as a country are having to do this as we work to defeat the terror organization that brutalized our people, we are witnessing a Holocaust denial-like phenomenon evolving in real time as people are casting doubt on the magnitude of the atrocities that Hamas committed against our people and, in fact, recorded in order to glorify that violence," he said.