October 16, 2023 11:50 AM UTC

Rep. Hernandez Apologizes, Local Electeds Flee DSA

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• by: Colorado Pols

Last Friday, the controversy over newly-appointed Rep. Tim Hernandez’s initial refusal to condemn the unprecedented violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israeli civilians a week ago changed course after Hernandez about-faced and issued an unequivocal, point-by-point apology. The Denver Post’s Seth Klamann reports:

A Colorado legislator apologized Friday for not explicitly condemning the deadly terror attacks in Israel last week when he attended a pro-Palestine rally, amid calls from Republicans that he be expelled from the legislature.

“People who are harmed and suffering deserve our respect, and I have to apologize for the way that I caused harm to (the) community by not making that explicitly clear,” Rep. Tim Hernández, a Denver Democrat, said in a video posted to social media late Friday afternoon. “… My values have and always will remain as solidarity and appreciation for the fundamental value of human life and a collective fight against oppression.”

…Hernández began his video with an explicit condemnation of [Hamas] “and their attack on innocent civilians.” He apologized for his social media use and said he hadn’t been “engaged with impacted community members.”

We encourage readers to watch Rep. Hernandez’s apology in its entirety. It took several days for Hernandez to realize that the far greater loss of Israeli civilian life in these latest attacks has fundamentally called into question any moral high ground sympathizers with the Palestinian cause had previously enjoyed. The unprecedented violence of last week’s attacks caught the American left off guard almost as much as the Israelis themselves, and the acknowledgment that Hamas had committed indefensible atrocities came only slowly.

But when you compare the sincerity and thorough recounting of the mistakes Rep. Hernandez made in his apology Friday to the pathological inability of most Republicans to admit error on any issue from Ukraine to January 6th, Hernandez’s apology stands out as a model of how to do it right. While his apology won’t appease the House Republican micro-minority opportunistically clamoring for Hernandez’s expulsion, it should go a long with the Democratic majority who actually hold power.

At the same time Rep. Hernandez was humbly walking back his previous omissions this weekend, a larger schism appears to have opened within the far-left Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) after the Denver DSA chapter released a statement Saturday expressing “solidarity with Palestine” and the “fight for liberation” against Israel. As Ernest Luning of the Colorado Springs Gazette’s political blog reports, Democratic elected officials who once claimed affiliation with the DSA are now running away screaming:

Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, and Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County, said they’re disappointed in the group’s position.

“And I reject it in the strongest possible terms,” Mabrey said. “I deeply believe that we must reject violence and terrorism in all of its forms and that each of us had a duty to appreciate the fundamental value of all human life.”

…Garcia echoed the sentiment, saying she’s saddened by the group’s stance.

“As an organization that works towards a society free of exploitation and oppression, this statement does not reflect its values,” Garcia said. “Violence is exploitation and oppression and all violence should be rejected.”

At least two elected officials have announced that they have canceled their DSA membership, including Aurora City Councilman and mayoral candidate Juan Marcano:

I cannot in good conscience continue to be part of an organization that issues statements defending the indefensible.

Denver DSA’s statement was not approved unanimously by all members and does not reflect by opinion. Upon reading it, I have canceled my membership.

And Aurora City Councilwoman Alison Coombs:

We should stand for an end to bloodshed everywhere, for real and lasting peace everywhere, and against all war crimes, no matter who is committing them.

I have canceled my DSA membership, and I am no longer a member of DSA.

The situation in Colorado appears to echo similar controversies playing out in other states, in which DSA and the usual suspects on the left who turn out to “support Palestine” every time the conflict makes headlines got out over their proverbial skis with praise for Palestinian “resistance”–which perhaps wasn’t known at the pro-Palestinian rally Hernandez attended a week ago kicking off his week of scandal, but we know today was an unprecedented massacre of Israeli civilians that no decent human being can defend.

If this turmoil and self-reflection results in a more responsible left flank in American politics, it’s a good thing–and evidence of a firewall against extremism that has no analogue on the right side of the aisle.