Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a Pennsylvania lawmaker who threatened an elderly Catholic woman:
We are contacting every member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives asking them to take a vote of censure against state representative Brian Sims.
In particular, we are asking state representative Frank A. Farry, Chairman of the House Committee on Ethics, to introduce a resolution to formally condemn the vicious attack by Sims on an elderly Catholic woman. The Committee on Ethics deals with cases of “misconduct in legislative duties.” What Sims did may also be criminal.
On May 5, Sims recorded himself bullying what he called “an old white lady.” What provoked him? She was praying, with a rosary in hand, in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic. For eight uninterrupted minutes, Sims badgered her, telling her to go pray at home. When she asked him to stop, he followed her around and threatened to make her home address public so that others could harass her.
Two days earlier, Sims tweeted that Planned Parenthood protesters are “racist, classist, bigots,” apparently clueless to the racist origins of the organization. The founder, Margaret Sanger, said her goal was to “weed out” the “undesirables,” by which she meant African Americans.
Sims also went into a protracted anti-Catholic rant. “How many Catholic churches are you protesting in front of? There are 400 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania indicted for child molestation.” This bigot can’t even get that right—two were indicted.
“The amount of mental gymnastics it must take for you to think that you have the right to tell a woman what’s right for her body, and yet you will support a faith that has molested children across the planet.”
Sims does not belong in public office, but he may very well belong in jail.
At the very least, he needs to be censured by his colleagues, including his fellow Democrats. Not to do so would be to send an unmistakable message to Catholics—indeed to people of all religions—that they can be harassed, intimidated, and placed in danger by a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives without ever paying a price for his unconscionable behavior.
Make no mistake about this—this is not simply a Pennsylvania issue. It touches the entire nation.
Contact PA State Rep. Frank Farry and ask him to lead the censure against Sims: Ffarry@pahousegop.com
