House leaders reluctant to punish member for promoting violence and calling a school shooting a hoax

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Florida called a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting "a coward," and the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre "a hoax." Altogether, 43 were killed. At Sandy Hook, 20 casualties were 6- and 7-year-olds

January 29, 2021 - 4:32 PM

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., yells at journalists as she passes through a newly installed metal detector outside the House Chamber on Jan. 12, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by (Chris Kleponis/Sipa USA/TNS)

WASHINGTON — Despite the furor over U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s embrace of violence against members of Congress and conspiracy theories, the likelihood of some sort of punishment by her fellow lawmakers is no sure thing.

Greene, R-Fla., called a Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor a “coward,” sympathized with QAnon conspiracy theories and liked comments on Facebook that alluded to the murder of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, leading to Republicans denouncing her words and some Democrats calling for her to be expelled.

House Ethics Chairman Ted Deutch — who represents the Florida district that includes Parkland, where Stoneman Douglas is located — on Thursday said that Greene should not “have a public platform to further spread dangerous lies” as a “Member of Congress.”

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