Resignation Campaign For “Shoot Immigrants From Helicopters” Politico Continues

Kansas Rep. Virgil Peck is the politician who suggested a good way to deal with immigrants would be to shoot them from helicopters like hogs. We reported the story when it first broke, discussed the national outcry that followed, shared the outrage of Latino Republicans, and also spoke with Presente.org’s National Campaign Director Joaquín Guerra who delivered 55,000 signatures asking for Peck’s resignation to Kansas’ state capitol.

Now Presente.org has released a radio ad in Spanish urging three Latino lawmakers who sided with and defended Peck to ask for his resignation, too. A press release from the organization notes:

A series of radio ads are being broadcast on local Latino radio stations throughout the state of Kansas to demand that Kansas State Representatives Mario Goico (R-100), Reynaldo Mesa (R-123), and Ramon Gonzales (R-47) hold Representative Virgil Peck (R-11) accountable for his reckless remarks on immigrants and ask for his immediate resignation.

Earlier in March, Rep. Peck made headlines when, during an appropriations committee meeting, he made a reference to an agricultural program that controls the state’s feral hog population by shooting them from helicopters. “Looks like to me, if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works, maybe we have found a [solution] to our illegal immigration problem,” stated Rep. Peck. A couple of days after the hateful remarks, Latino Republican Representatives Goico, Mesa and Gonzales stood by Peck to accept his weak apology.

The ad is below, for more information visit Presente.org. It’s a good ad because it makes the connection between hate speech and hate crimes, noting that Latinos make up the number one group of hate crime victims in the country. Kind of gives a new perspective to this kind of vitriolic speech, ey?

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD