Adam Schiff says he's 'tired' of GOP colleagues 'protecting the rights of mass shooters'

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wasn't comforted by President Trump's remarks on Monday in response to the mass shootings over the weekend in El Paso and Dayton, which left 31 people dead.
The El Paso shooting suspect is believed to have posted a screed online saying the massacre was "a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas." Trump, who has used the word "invasion" to refer to immigrants arriving at the southern border, said the U.S. has to "condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy." Schiff told ABC 7 Los Angeles that "to hear the president talk today about we all need to be united — well he's the biggest part of this problem in terms of using this incendiary language, this dehumanizing language about people coming to this country being invaders. This is the same stuff the El Paso shooter was talking about in his manifesto."
It's past time for Congress to work on gun control regulations, Schiff said, and he wants to see lawmakers quickly close a major loophole. "Most Americans don't realize you can go to a gun store and be turned down because you're a felon and you can leave the store and buy that exact same gun off the back of someone's truck, legally," he said. "That makes no sense to anyone." Schiff added that he's tired of nothing getting done and his Republican colleagues "protecting the rights of mass shooters instead of the rights to their constituents to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There has been an uptick in arrests of domestic terrorism suspects, Schiff said, and "the threat domestically from white supremacist violence now I think is eclipsing the threat from the doctrinations of ISIS and al-Qaida and the like in terms of domestic crimes."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Art review: Diane Arbus: Constellation
Feature Park Avenue Armory, New York City, through Aug. 17
-
July fiction: Summers to remember
Feature Featuring the latest summer-themed novels from Darrow Farr, Lucas Schaefer, and more
-
Why are flash floods in Texas so deadly?
Today's Big Question Over 100 people, including 27 girls at a summer camp, died in recent flooding
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murders
speed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bail
Speed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack