The Daily Wire

An arrest warrant has been issued for controversial Biden administration official Sam Brinton in connection with a second alleged theft at an airport in Las Vegas.

Brinton, who works for the Department of Energy, was already placed on leave after he allegedly stole a woman’s luggage at Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) International Airport late last month.

8 News Now reported Thursday night that a felony arrest warrant has now been issued for Brinton for grand larceny with a value between $1,200 and $5,000 for allegedly stealing luggage from Harry Reid International Airport.

This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

Inside the Illinois State Capitol sits a display of several religious exhibits for the holiday season, which includes a Jewish menorah, the Christian nativity scene, and the “Serpent of Genesis” from the Satanic Temple, as reported by local radio media.

Consisting of a leather-bound copy of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’ “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” — which translates to “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres” — at the center of the display with handcrafted knitted apples and a 12-foot serpent orbiting the book, the controversial imagery marks the fourth year in a row the state’s Capitol rotunda in Springfield, Illinois, has showcased displays from the Illinois Satanic Temple.

Minister Adam told The Daily Caller News Foundation that their display — handcrafted by congregation members that represents the pursuit of forbidden knowledge — revolves around one of the “most controversial books of its time,” noting that the book favors a heliocentric model of the universe, which theorizes the earth revolves around the sun — not vice-versa.

The Index of Forbidden Books banned the text for 200 years, but officials from the Satanic Temple told Patch they believe it still provides a valuable lesson.

But the handmade elements that surround the book, and that were created by Illinois congregation members, carry a similar meaning, officials said.

In 2018, local media reported one state lawmaker denounced the Satanic Temple, demanding the removal of the satanic statue. However, a sign from the state of Illinois in the rotunda reads, “because the first floor of the Capitol rotunda is a public place, state officials cannot legally censor the content of speech or displays.”

“The State of Illinois is required by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to allow temporary, public display in the state capitol so long as these displays are not paid for by taxpayer dollars,” the sign reads, according to ABC News.

Adam, with Satanic Temple, said the display was “not in opposition with other religions, but in a show of equality and shared space with other religious viewpoints,” according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Speaking with local media, Adam responded to those offended by the display: “Ok.”

“Being offended is something that is more than welcomed for them to be able to do — that is their right,” Adam said. “But we have every right to be here, and we’re not going to sanitize that message because someone else is offended by that.”

Beth Rogers, representing the Illinois Prayer Caucus, told Illinois Radio Network during the dedication of the Christian Nativity scene showcasing the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger that the “little baby in the manger later crushed Satan the serpent’s head, and the gates of hell will not prevail.”

Displays in the state Capitol rotunda will remain through January 5.

The latest release of the “Twitter Files” Thursday evening revealed that leftists at the highest level of the company, who have all since been fired or been forced to resign, targeted one of the most popular right-wing accounts on the platform with repeated suspensions despite the fact that they secretly admitted that she did not do anything wrong.

Journalist Bari Weiss released a long Twitter thread in which she showed how Twitter built blacklists, prevented disfavored tweets from trending on the platform, and actively limited the visibility of entire accounts and even trending topics in secret, without informing users.

Weiss noted the different layers of censorship that existed at Twitter and that the highest level was the “Site Integrity Policy, Policy Escalation Support,” known as “SIP-PES.”

“This secret group included Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust (Vijaya Gadde), the Global Head of Trust & Safety (Yoel Roth), subsequent CEOs Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal, and others,” Weiss said. “This is where the biggest, most politically sensitive decisions got made. ‘Think high follower account, controversial,’ another Twitter employee told us. For these ‘there would be no ticket or anything.’”

Weiss showed how Libs of TikTok was placed on a “Trends Blacklist” and that a special note was placed on the account that said action could not be taken on the account “without consulting with SIP-PES.”

16. One of the accounts that rose to this level of scrutiny was @libsoftiktok—an account that was on the “Trends Blacklist” and was designated as “Do Not Take Action on User Without Consulting With SIP-PES.” pic.twitter.com/Vjo6YxYbxT

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022

“The account—which Chaya Raichik began in November 2020 and now boasts over 1.4 million followers—was subjected to six suspensions in 2022 alone, Raichik says. Each time, Raichik was blocked from posting for as long as a week,” Weiss said. “Twitter repeatedly informed Raichik that she had been suspended for violating Twitter’s policy against ‘hateful conduct.’”

However, those at the highest level secretly admitted that they knew Libs of TikTok did not violate any of the site’s rules, yet they wanted her suspended.

Twitter said in a secret memo:

Site Policy Recommendation

Site Policy recommends placing @LibsOfTiktok ([LTT] 1.3M followers, not verified) in a 7-day timeout at the account level [meaning, not for a specific Tweet] based on the account’s continued pattern of indirectly violating Twitter’s Hateful Conduct Policy by tweeting content that either leads to or intends to incite harassment against individuals and institutions that support LGBTQ communities. At this time, Site Policy has not found explicitly violative Tweets, which would result in a permanent suspension of the account.

This type of enforcement action [repeated 7-day timeouts at the account-level] will not lead to permanent suspension, however: should LTT engage in any other direct Tweet-level violations of any of Site Policy’s policies, we will move forward with permanent suspension.

Assessment

Since its most recent timeout, while LTT has not directly engaged in behavior violative of the Hateful Conduct policy, the user has continued targeting individuals/allies/supporters of the LGBTQIA+ community for alleged misconduct.

19. But in an internal SIP-PES memo from October 2022, after her seventh suspension, the committee acknowledged that “LTT has not directly engaged in behavior violative of the Hateful Conduct policy.” See here: pic.twitter.com/d9FGhrnQFE

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022

Weiss then showed how Twitter took a much different approach when Libs of TikTok reported that she was the victim of harassment on the platform that violated its terms of service.

“Compare this to what happened when Raichik herself was doxxed on November 21, 2022. A photo of her home with her address was posted in a tweet that has garnered more than 10,000 likes,” Weiss said. “When Raichik told Twitter that her address had been disseminated she says Twitter Support responded with this message: ‘We reviewed the reported content, and didn’t find it to be in violation of the Twitter rules.’ No action was taken. The doxxing tweet is still up.”

22. When Raichik told Twitter that her address had been disseminated she says Twitter Support responded with this message: “We reviewed the reported content, and didn’t find it to be in violation of the Twitter rules.” No action was taken. The doxxing tweet is still up. pic.twitter.com/tUeaBP1bS4

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022

The second installment of the so-called “Twitter Files” was released Thursday evening after the company turned over documents to a journalist who then started to publish the findings on the platform.

Musk released internal company communications through journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday about the company’s censorship of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 presidential election and about how the platform removed content at the behest of the Democrat Party.

However, Taibbi’s release of the documents was somewhat muddled because one of the people that he was reporting on, former Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker — the same Jim Baker at the center of Trump-era drama at the FBI — was the person who was vetting the content that was being sent to Taibbi. Baker was subsequently fired by the company after this was revealed earlier this week.

The second installment of the Twitter files was released by Bari Weiss in a similar manner that Taibbi released his installment of the files, slowly tweeting out content, making people wait several minutes before the next tweet was published, which annoyed many users.

“A new Twitter Files investigation reveals that teams of Twitter employees build blacklists, prevent disfavored tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics—all in secret, without informing users,” Weiss tweeted. “Take, for example, Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) who argued that Covid lockdowns would harm children. Twitter secretly placed him on a ‘Trends Blacklist,’ which prevented his tweets from trending.”

“Or consider the popular right-wing talk show host, Dan Bongino (@dbongino), who at one point was slapped with a ‘Search Blacklist,’” Weiss continued.

4. Or consider the popular right-wing talk show host, Dan Bongino (@dbongino), who at one point was slapped with a “Search Blacklist.” pic.twitter.com/AdOK8xLu9v

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022

Weiss further noted that another major conservative account was hit with a “Do Not Amplify” restriction.

This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

The transgender community has turned on a once revered surgeon specializing in sex change surgeries after a patient posted graphic photos of an allegedly botched operation.

Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher, a Miami-based surgeon specializing in double mastectomy surgeries for transgender-identifying patients, has been heavily criticized for performing the elective surgery on minors. She has also earned the moniker “TikTok Surgeon” for her advertising methods to her large social media following. Her detractors have primarily been conservatives and liberals critical of gender ideology, but recently, after a former patient went viral with allegations of medical malpractice, the transgender community has responded with outrage toward the doctor.

“In August of 2022, I flew to Miami, Florida to get top surgery from Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher,” wrote Rylan, a 23-year-old trans-identified female, on the self-publishing platform Medium. “3 weeks later, a local surgeon had to rush me in to remove over half a foot of dead, rotting tissue. Gallagher dismissed every concern, including hollow cavities that formed on my ripped-open incision.”

Rylan came forward on November 22, describing her ordeal in detail with graphic images of severely infected wounds. She also included screenshots of the email correspondence with Dr. Gallagher.

As of December 8, Rylan’s viral video on TikTok has amassed 4.5 million views, nearly 100,000 likes, and over 14,000 comments, with a vast majority of the messages expressing their sympathy and outrage. As word spread across social media of Rylan’s story, some transgender TikTokers made their own videos warning others of Dr. Gallagher.

“If you are part of the trans community, or you’re an ally, I need you to heed this warning and beware of Dr. Gallagher,” began one TikTok user.

“If you’re considering getting top surgery done by Dr. Gallagher, who you might have noticed on TikTok — DON’T,” said another TikToker.

“This person is not to be trusted when it comes to your healthcare,” warned yet another user on the platform.

Rylan, who lives in Ohio, said she sought out the Miami-based doctor because she is willing to operate on overweight patients. “She’s one of the only gender surgeons with no BMI cap in my country,” said Rylan.

But after just four days, Rylan began to notice complications from the surgery. When she sent a photo of her oozing wound with extensive black-and-purple discoloration on her left side, Gallagher assured her it was just “bruising.”

On the day of her follow-up appointment, the incision had reopened and was “bleeding significantly.” Rylan described bleeding through her clothes and onto the exam room table as Gallagher “minimized everything.” Rylan alleges that Dr. Gallagher called the wound a “blowhole” and made a crude joke about menstruating.

“I was confused, because her TikTok page has videos where she says she’s never had an incision break,” Rylan said.

Three weeks after surgery and back home in Ohio, Rylan was in excruciating pain when she was rushed to the emergency room after giant coagulated blood clots “the size of golf balls” began sloughing off of her wounds. Her incisions had begun opening in several locations that would become “gaping abscesses.”

When Rylan emailed photos of her deteriorating condition from the hospital, Dr. Gallagher sent a reply the following morning, which Rylan claimed minimized her concerns and instructed her that there was “no need for the ER.” Throughout the ordeal, Rylan had sent Dr. Gallagher photos of her gaping wounds, to which she replied, “looking good – not infected.”

Ultimately, Rylan would have over 6 inches of infected, necrotic tissue removed from her torso.

“I went under anesthesia 3 days later and woke up to a nurse telling me I could’ve gone septic without the surgery,” said Rylan. “Over half a foot of my left side had been killed by a bacteria that has a high mortality rate.“

After the ordeal, Rylan sought the services of a medical malpractice lawyer in Miami, who informed her that Dr. Gallagher had opted out of medical malpractice insurance. Florida is one of 32 U.S. states that do not require physicians to carry medical liability insurance, which protects physicians from medical malpractice lawsuits.

“The payout would not be enough to cover the cost of the case for a law firm, so lawyers are highly unlikely to help me sue her without that insurance,” said Rylan. “I was told she likely utilizes this loophole on purpose, knowing it leaves her victims powerless.”

Since the video went viral, dozens of users had noticed that their critical comments on Dr. Gallagher’s TikTok videos had been deleted — some users were even blocked.

“You cannot spam her comments,” said one TikTok user. “She deletes all of them. But it just shows how guilty she is. She changed her [TikTok] account name as well.”

Gallagher responded to the viral outrage with a video of her own on November 29, apologizing for her “bedside manner,” but neglecting to address her purportedly ill-fated medical advice — which she explained was due to patient confidentiality.

“A lot of you guys have been asking me to comment about the recent patient story that was posted online — it’s one of my patients,” Gallagher began. “And the reason I’ve been so quiet about it is the confidentiality laws here in the United States are very strict and I cannot discuss any medical facts about the case.”

According to SocialBlade, a social media analytics website, Gallagher had approximately 273,600 TikTok followers in mid-November, and has lost at least 16,000 followers since the story went viral on November 22.

“Since posting my story on other social media platforms, I’ve had countless former patients of hers reach out to me with harrowingly similar stories,” said Rylan. “Many of them, including myself, needed an intervention from a secondary healthcare provider to avoid either death or more harm.”

Rylan still identifies as transgender and shared her story to “keep the trans community safe.”

In a September interview with The New York Times, Gallagher has said she performed between 400-500 double mastectomy surgeries in the last year, 13 of which were on minors as young as 13 years old. Gallagher told The New York Times that most of her patients find her through TikTok.

In October, five organizations led by Genspect filed a complaint against Gallagher with the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly engaging in deceptive marketing to minors. Gallagher is accused of claiming that double mastectomies on healthy breasts are “proven safe, effective, and medically necessary.”

A Florida lawyer is seeking information from past patients of Dr. Gallagher in order to file a formal complaint with the Florida Attorney General. In an interview with Reduxx magazine, Kendra Parris of Parris Law in Orlando, Florida, said she is pursuing a case against Gallagher after hearing reports of “potentially unethical, improper behavior” from the surgeon.

Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher, the Florida Health Department, and the Florida Surgeon General did not respond to The Daily Wire’s requests for comment in time for publication.

Video emerged Thursday afternoon of Brittney Griner being swapped on a runway for convicted Russian terrorist Viktor Bout after Democrat President Joe Biden agreed to the trade.

The video showed Griner, who is wearing a red jacket, walking across the tarmac with three men while Bout walked toward her with a man standing next to him.

Bout shook the hands of a couple of people in the video before an obvious cut appeared in the film. The footage then resumes just moments later showing Griner walking away from Bout.

Russian news agency TASS publishes footage of the Brittney Griner/Viktor Bout exchange. pic.twitter.com/QmOItTEQ3O

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 8, 2022

Critics online instantly noted the cut and that it appeared as though Griner was posturing herself to shake Bout’s hand right when the footage was cut.

Bout was convicted on terrorism charges back in 2011 for trying to sell tens of millions of dollars worth of missiles to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for the purpose of shooting down U.S. Military helicopters.

“There’s a jump cut here at :13 as everyone is shaking hands and hugging and right before it looks like Griner maybe going in to shake hands with Bout?” political commentator Stephen L. Miller tweeted. “Probably not great optics there to have your star prisoner swap shaking hands with the most notorious arms dealer on the planet.”

There’s a jump cut here at :13 as everyone is shaking hands and hugging and right before it looks like Griner maybe going in to shake hands with Bout? https://t.co/UGNPPbG37w

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 8, 2022

Newsmax host Rob Schmitt agreed, writing: “You can tell Griner went in for a handshake with Viktor Bout and it was completely edited out.”

“Watch her body language just before the edit,” he added.

You can tell Griner went in for a handshake with Viktor Bout and it was completely edited out. Watch her body language just before the edit. https://t.co/pNHar7lEjA

— Rob Schmitt (@SchmittNYC) December 8, 2022

The prisoner swap generated widespread backlash, including among Democrats, who noted that Bout was a very dangerous man and that by agreeing to the swap, President Joe Biden was effectively incentivizing rogue regimes to detain Americans overseas.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, slammed Biden, saying, “This should be a moment of deep reflection for the United States government to recognize we have a serious problem with hostage-taking of Americans.”

“The Russians and other regimes that take American citizens hostage cannot pretend that there is equivalence between the Brittney Griners of the world and people like Viktor Bout, the so-called ‘Merchant of Death,’” Menendez continued. “Nothing could be further from the truth, and we cannot ignore that releasing Bout back into the world is a deeply disturbing decision.”

“We must stop inviting dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans overseas as bargaining chips, and we must try to do better at encouraging American citizens against traveling to places like Russia where they are primary targets for this type of unlawful detention,” he continued.

After a woman claimed to be the daughter of a serial killer in a recent interview, a search of the supposed location of buried remains has turned up nothing.

Federal, state, and local authorities did not find any evidence or remains after scouring the earth for several days in Thurman, Iowa, a small town just 3 miles from the border with Nebraska. Abbie Petersen, a reporter for Omaha-based KETV, reported on the lack of findings. The news comes weeks after a woman spoke with Newsweek in October, claiming to be the daughter of a killer.

“The Iowa Department of Public Safety says NO evidence was found after digging and collecting soil samples over the past few days in Thurman, Iowa,” Petersen reported in a Twitter thread Thursday. “This comes after a woman claimed her father was a serial killer and buried bodies on the land.”

The Iowa Department of Public Safety shared details of the effort in a press release.

“Over the past three days, state, local, and federal law enforcement assisted with an investigation in Fremont County,” the press release stated. “Authorities brought in an array of experts representing several disciplines and significant assets to excavate, collect and examine soil samples from a site identified by a reporting party. After exhaustive efforts, no evidence or other items of concern were recovered.”

The Department coordinated with the FBI, DPS’s Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the release stated.

In October, Lucy Studey told Newsweek magazine that her late father, Donald Dean Studey, was a serial killer who used his children to bury the bodies. “I know where the bodies are buried,” she claimed.

According to Studey, her father killed between 50 and 70 women over a period of 30 years. He then instructed her and her siblings to help drag the bodies out to the alleged burial site, using a wheelbarrow in warmer weather and a toboggan during the winter snows. Once they arrived, the bodies were dumped into a well, and dirt and lye were piled on top.

“He would just tell us we had to go to the well, and I knew what that meant,” Studey said. “Every time I went to the well or into the hills, I didn’t think I was coming down. I thought he would kill me because I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut.”

Donald Studey died in 2013 at the age of 75.

The interview coincided with an initial inspection by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at the alleged burial site. Police used cadaver dogs to examine the site; the dogs allegedly reacted to something in the area, but the sheriff said that doesn’t prove anything definitively.

Still, the sheriff said it’s a distinct possibility that there could be something there. “It’s been a rumor around for years,” Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope told KETV at the time. “We’re going to do everything we can to prove or disprove there may be a crime scene.”

“I believe her 100 percent that there’s bodies in there,” Aistrope added to Newsweek.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, slammed President Joe Biden Thursday for releasing notorious terrorist Viktor Bout in exchange for Brittney Griner.

Griner, who has a criminal record in the U.S. stemming from a domestic violence incident several years ago, was arrested in Russia back in February on drug charges, charges to which she pled guilty.

In exchange for Griner, Biden released Bout, a Russian weapons trafficker who was convicted on terrorism charges back in 2011 for trying to sell tens of millions of dollars worth of missiles to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for the purpose of shooting down U.S. Military helicopters.

“This should be a moment of deep reflection for the United States government to recognize we have a serious problem with hostage-taking of Americans,” Menendez said in a statement. “The Russians and other regimes that take American citizens hostage cannot pretend that there is equivalence between the Brittney Griners of the world and people like Viktor Bout, the so-called ‘Merchant of Death.’ Nothing could be further from the truth, and we cannot ignore that releasing Bout back into the world is a deeply disturbing decision.”

“We must stop inviting dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans overseas as bargaining chips, and we must try to do better at encouraging American citizens against traveling to places like Russia where they are primary targets for this type of unlawful detention,” he continued.

Menendez’s statement mentioned U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan, who was not rescued by the Biden administration from his jail cell in Russia.

“My heart also goes out to the families of other American citizens in Russian prisons and labor camps, including Paul Whelan,” the statement concluded. “They have my renewed commitment and determination to use the power of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to secure Mr. Whelan’s safe return and to continue fighting for the release of all Russian political prisoners, like Vladimir Kara Murza, and all other unjustly detained Americans.”

Whelan slammed the Biden administration during a CNN interview after the announcement was made that Griner was the one who was going to be freed.

“I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred,” Whelan said. “I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”

The 22-year-old suspect accused of killing five and wounding dozens of others at a gay nightclub in Colorado last month allegedly threatened to become the “next mass killer” a year before horrific murder spree, according to documents unsealed Thursday by a judge.

Judge Robin Chittum unsealed a dropped bomb threat case reported by The Associated Press about the suspected gunman, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy about not giving notoriety to mass killers.

“This interest is so significant I think I would even call it profound,” Chittum said, according to The Guardian. “To … see what occurred in a case is very foundational to our system of government to have that scrutiny,” adding that “the only way for that scrutiny to occur is for this to be unsealed.”

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrested the suspect at his mother’s home in Colorado Springs in June 2021 after responding to a report by the suspect’s mother alleging that he threatened to harm the family with homemade bomb materials, multiple weapons, and ammunition. Authorities later booked the male gunman on two counts of felony menacing and three first-degree kidnapping charges in connection to the bomb threat that led ten surrounding homes to evacuate, according to law enforcement documents.

However, authorities later dismissed the case without formal charges filed against the suspect, forcing officials to seal all documents automatically as required by Colorado law.

“This is one of the strangest hearings I think I’ve ever had,” Chittum said, according to The Associated Press. “I’m having a hearing about a case that none of us is to recognize.”

According to a verified copy of the unsealed documents from the news outlet, the suspect allegedly told his grandparents about the weapons and bomb-making material in their basement as he pointed a Glock handgun at them while they pleaded for their lives.

“You guys die today … I’m loaded and ready,” the suspect allegedly said while threatening them not to interfere with his mass killing plans.

His grandparents escaped from the house and called 911 as the suspect stepped away.

The suspect then held his grandparents hostage in a nearby home where the mother lived when a SWAT team and bomb squad arrived, waiting outside with rifles raised and bomb-sniffing dogs.

The suspect threatened to set off a bomb if authorities attempted to enter, but eventually surrendered.

The Associated Press reported that FBI agents received a tip about the suspect a day before the bomb threat and later closed the case within weeks after the incident.

Authorities have refused to speak about the details of the case to this day.

Remarks about allegedly intending to become “the next mass killer” from the suspect have brought about questions over the effectiveness of Colorado’s “red flag” gun law and why he was allowed to obtain the firearms.

Public defender Joseph Archambault argued the importance of the suspect’s right to a fair trial, saying, “This will make sure there is no presumption of innocence.”

An attorney for the suspect’s mother argued that unsealing the case would increase her risk of suffering harm, harassment, intimidation, or retaliation.

Attorneys for the suspect told the judge that they plan on filing a contempt of court motion against the sheriff’s office about details of the sealed document reported in The Associated Press story, which was first obtained by a Colorado Springs TV station and verified as authentic by an anonymous law enforcement official unauthorized to speak about the details of the case.

Judge Chittum said she would not rule against the motion, adding it would not hold up her decision about unsealing the documents to the public.

It is still being determined when the unsealed documents will be available.

Authorities formally charged the suspect — with court documents noting that he describes himself as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns — on Tuesday with 305 counts, including charges of assault, hate crimes, and murder. If convicted of first-degree murder, authorities said the alleged shooter faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Despite Colorado abolishing the death penalty in 2020, the suspect could still face it if federal prosecutors charge the suspect with crimes under the U.S. code, which still has capital punishment for certain crimes.

Rep. Vicki Hartzler (R-MO) wept during a House floor speech as she pleaded with colleagues to stop the Respect for Marriage Act, with Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu (CA) referring to her emotional outburst as “tears of hate.”

Lieu posted the searing response on Twitter following Hartzler’s speech on Thursday.

“Want to see tears of hate?” he tweeted. “Watch the speech below. This MAGA Republican is so hateful of other human beings experiencing the joys of marriage and love that she shed tears of hate.”

Want to see tears of hate?

Watch the speech below. This MAGA Republican is so hateful of other human beings experiencing the joys of marriage and love that she shed tears of hate. https://t.co/XYubxawOFE

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 8, 2022

Hartzler’s words provided strong support for traditional marriage, urging House members to oppose the legislation to codify same-sex marriage.

“I’ll tell you my priority. Protect religious liberty, protect people of faith, and protect Americans who believe in the true meaning of marriage. I hope and pray that my colleagues will find the courage to join me in opposing this misguided and this dangerous bill,” she said.

The short video quickly turned viral, with more than 1.4 million views less than an hour after its posting.

The House of Representatives passed the legislation on Thursday, 258-169, sending the bill to the president’s desk where it is expected to be signed into law.

The measure was supported primarily by Democrats, but 39 House Republicans joined in the measure. The bill repeals the Defense of Marriage Act that legally defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman and permitted individual states not to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

In addition to Lieu’s demeaning response to Hartzler, he posted his disdain for the majority of Republicans who opposed the Respect for Marriage Act.

“The majority of House Republicans are on the wrong side of history,” he tweeted.

The majority of House Republicans are on the wrong side of history. #thursdaymorning truth https://t.co/Q6QegSW1UC

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 8, 2022

The Senate previously passed the legislation — which also codifies federal protections for interracial marriages. The 61-36 vote last week included 12 Republican Senators supporting the measure, offering the supermajority needed to pass the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

The Senate Republicans who backed the bill were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mitt Romney of Utah, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Todd Young of Indiana.

Prior to the Senate vote, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) unsuccessfully attempted to urge fellow Republicans to include protections for anyone with a religious belief or moral conviction that marriage belongs to one man and one woman.

“Instead of subjecting churches, religious nonprofits, and persons of conscience to undue scrutiny or punishment by the federal government because of their views on marriage, we should make explicitly clear that this legislation does not constitute a national policy endorsing a particular view of marriage that threatens the tax-exempt status of faith-based nonprofits,” he wrote. “As we move forward, let us be sure to keep churches, religious charities, and religious universities out of litigation in the first instance,” he said in a letter concerning his proposed Lee Amendment.