The Illinois State House has unanimously approved a resolution honoring the Waukesha County Sheriff and the victim of the E911 massacre in which six citizens were shot on Jan. 29th.
The resolution passed on Thursday the statehouse body calling for an event to be held in Waukesha to acknowledge the involvement of Illinois state Rep. David McSweeney in organizing an emergency call center at Illinois’ Capitol.
“With a deep sense of personal responsibility to the victims and the families involved, I have raised my voice about the notion that domestic violence and any act of criminal violence is never tolerated in our families, our communities and our country,” wrote McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, on Thursday.
Tyrone Williams, 22, allegedly killed six people and injured seven others in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on January 29.
A report released last week by the Wisconsin Department of Justice describes Williams’ alleged actions that day as “premeditated.” Williams’ mother had been told to drop him off in Waukesha because “he was not to be returned to his dad’s house,” according to the report. The mother and her boyfriend took Williams with them to a hotel, where they were going to pick him up.
But Williams allegedly returned to his father’s house and opened fire on the waiting motorists, murdering one and injuring the others, the DOJ report said.
In his statement, McSweeney said that the specific events leading up to the shootings were tragic and “we should never forget the countless victims and their families.”
However, the Republican lawmaker said he also has a responsibility to “begin the healing process for those who were hurt.”
“For that reason, I will be participating in the upcoming 911 event at the Wisconsin State Capitol,” he said in his statement.
McSweeney called 911 to see if there was an emergency and he has been outspoken in both calling for stricter gun legislation and noting that he has advocated for using the 911 call center for domestic violence and stalking calls.
If the California Democrat had been such a proponent of tighter gun legislation, he might have known better than to encourage residents to use his state’s 911 center as a sanctuary for domestic abusers, opposition Democrats have said, arguing that the events in Waukesha have highlighted their case for assault weapons control.
“The purpose of the 911 event has nothing to do with guns and everyone should know that,” the Democrat’s spokesperson wrote in an email, “so if (McSweeney) was so motivated, he could have pushed for stronger gun laws in Illinois or protected women from domestic abusers.”
State House Democrats wrote in a letter to McSweeney calling for the Illinois Republican to withdraw himself from the event because of his other focus on gun control.
“Illinois should not allow our 911 system to be used as a domestic abuse sanctuary, especially not by someone who advocates for legislation that would reduce gun safety standards and lock up criminals,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in the letter.
According to CNN’s rules of transparency, McSweeney had been taking a temporary leave of absence from his state House seat since the Waukesha shooting.
He has also been a vocal supporter of a proposed assault weapons ban, but this has been strongly opposed by some GOP members in the House, including Illinois state Sen. Jason Barickman, who called McSweeney’s actions “wussification” of gun laws and who previously represented the district in which the 911 shooting occurred.
“It’s one thing to be an advocate, but this is wussification and it’s destructive behavior,” Barickman wrote in the letter, adding that McSweeney, “has always been involved in proposing new gun control measures. He has never been concerned about right to bear arms and the Second Amendment,” he wrote.
This is not the first controversial situation McSweeney has been involved in. A new politics news website, Our Illinois: Click it. Vote. State Sun Times, which claims to be staffed by lobbyists and political insiders in Illinois’ legislature, last month accused McSweeney of sexism, for sharing a photo of a woman’s legs with the caption, “Nobody likes saggy junk in the trunk.” In response, McSweeney wrote that the magazine “might better serve you as a forum for hiding.”