Tom Kuiper is one of three Republicans running for the GOP nomination in a race that features a young conservative Zach Dieken and moderate House Rep. Dennis Bush.
Kuiper had an interesting take on the murder of Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed Air Force veteran who was shot and killed by a police officer who had previously left his loaded service weapon in a Capitol bathroom.
“I strongly feel deadly force was justified when the Capitol was stormed,” Kuiper wrote. “And a Trump supporter was shot and killed by the police.”
He compared it to the 1992 LA riots, writing about Asian business owners who defended their businesses from looters.
“That is how you deal with a mob; you defend against it and crush it,” he wrote.
Kuiper wrote that President Donald J. Trump’s conduct and statements since the November 2020 election were “unreasonable and have deeply damaged his legacy.”
Kuiper called for “all” who participated in the “riot” at the Capitol on Jan. 6 to be arrested and prosecuted.
“For once, it seems most Americans can agree on something,” he concluded.
Now to my knowledge, Kuiper wasn’t at the Capitol on Jan. 6. I was. So perhaps what he wrote about that day is simply due to his only knowledge coming from what the mainstream media told him about that day. Perhaps.
But having been at the Capitol that day and seeing the video of the murder of Ashli Babbitt, it is difficult to understand how someone could claim that was a justified killing of an unarmed veteran in the U.S. Capitol that day.
And hearing the stories of how Jan. 6 political prisoners are being treated while detained — and the fact they’re being detained for as long as they are without due process — makes me scratch my head in wonder if Kuiper is really the answer to replace Rep. Bush.
What good would it do to swap one moderate out for another?
I’ve enjoyed reading about all the GOP candidates running in the primary thus far except this one. Kuiper’s comments made me run to the nearest waste can. The bad taste is just now clearing my mouth. Democrat imposters dressed in GOP garb make me sick!