NH Rep Defends Controversial Tweets About Men
CONCORD, N.H. (CBS/AP) — A New Hampshire Democratic state representative Wednesday defended comments she made on Twitter that men telling her to calm down make her homicidal and that white, Christian men represent a terrorist problem.
Rep. Sherry Frost of Dover was the focus of a public hearing by a legislative committee tasked with reviewing comments she made online earlier this year that some colleagues found offensive. The House voted last week to open inquiries into both Frost and Republican Rep. Robert Fisher of Laconia, the recently exposed creator of a misogynistic online forum.
Oh, we have a terrorist problem, all right, and they're usually white, Christian men. https://t.co/BVwtDMXnXl
— Sherry Frost ????️???????????????????? (@frostnhstaterep) February 17, 2017
The people (read; men) telling me to "calm down" & "not take it so hard" are making me homicidal. I refuse to account 4 having a conscience
— Sherry Frost ????️???????????????????? (@frostnhstaterep) March 13, 2017
Democrats have decried Frost's inclusion in the probe as unfairly equating her comments with Fisher's. Frost said she is different than Fisher because she's attached her name to every remark, while he used an anonymous online username. The committee could recommend reprimanding, censuring, expelling or taking no action against either lawmaker.
Frost also made headlines in January for harsh language on her Twitter feed. The Union Leader reported that the state's Republican Party called Frost "crude" for using a profanity in her tweet about a "#gunnut."
"My speech is not always pretty or polite but I have the right to express myself in ways that I feel best relay what I witness and experience," Frost told the committee.
She defended the two comments that have drawn the most ire, pointing to many terrorist actions by white men, including the Oklahoma City bombing. She labeled her Tweet about being homicidal as hyperbole due to a difficult week in the Legislature.
A number of representatives testified that Frost's language is unacceptable.
The Concord Monitor reported that the hearing was marked by "profanity, finger-pointing and angry outbursts" as Republicans and Democrats clashed over Frost's tweets.
The legislative committee will reconvene next week and provide a recommendation to the full House by June 1.
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