Huntsville lawmaker pushes for political civility after Minnesota shooting

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - One local lawmaker reacts to Minnesota’s shooting that killed two congressmen, and the importance of bringing civility back to politics to prevent violence from continuing.

Alabama’s House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels of Huntsville says his thoughts and prayers go out to the families impacted by Saturday’s shooting in Minnesota, which killed one state representative and her husband.

But at the end of the day, Daniels says that’s not enough. He says the nation needs to do its best to prevent acts of violence like this from happening in the future.

As a state representative himself, Anthony Daniels he realizes that in America’s polarizing political climate, plenty of risks come along with speaking up for what you believe in.

He believes those risks are bigger the higher your profile is.

“It’s so heightened politically and so polarizing to where it does create chaos,” Daniels said.

Daniels says the shootings in Minnesota have elevated this chaos to a new level.

He says he has received threats before, notably after speaking out regarding George Floyd. But in the past, he just brushed those aside and continued to speak up for what he thought was right.

Daniels says the main takeaway from Saturday’s tragic incidents is the need to bring politics back to a point where leaders can respectfully disagree without worrying it could lead to violence.

“We have to restore the cadence of being more civil,” he said. “Allow the public to see that these individuals are statesmen, where they may disagree on an issue, but they have enough respect for each other.”

Daniels thinks back to when John McCain and Barack Obama campaigned for the presidency in 2008 and the respect they showed one another.

But now, he says the lack of political civility in Washington D.C. has set tensions at an all-time high, with both sides taking any chance they can get to destroy the other.

“The longer you pour the gasoline on the fire, or you put something on to keep it burning, the more it’ll seep its way into the wrong minds,” he added. “And those minds are not necessarily minds that you and I can control, or any of us can control.”

Daniels warns the public to avoid making Saturday’s political assassination about the suspect’s political motivations. He says if they do, it’ll just feed the fire of hate and division and dig the nation into a deeper hole where more violence may occur.

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