Missouri Republican cuts mic to silence NAACP official
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri Republican legislator has come under strong criticism for cutting the microphone to silence the head of the state’s NAACP chapter, who was speaking out at a public hearing against a bill that would restrict discrimination lawsuits.
A video by liberal advocacy group Progress Missouri shows Pineville Republican Rep. Bill Lant telling NAACP President Rod Chapel, “please contain your speech to speaking on the bill, sir,” during the hearing Monday.
“Oh, but I am because this is nothing but Jim Crow,” Chapel responded, referring to the bill. “You do not legalize discrimination on an individual basis and call it anything else.”
Lant then turned off the microphone for Chapel, who continued speaking until Lant interrupted him and called on someone else to speak.