Michigan Representative Reprimanded for Facebook Video

Brinklee Stegall

Senior Olivia Caggiano watches Representative Cynthia Johnson’s Facebook live video

On Tuesday night, Democratic member of the Michigan state representative Cynthia Johnson, uploaded a video to Facebook making a “warning to the Trumpers.” Since then, the video has gone viral in the political world. 

“Be careful, walk lightly, we ain’t playing with you. Enough of the shenanigans. Enough is enough,” Johnson said in her video. 

She received an enormous amount of backlash after uploading this video. Many Republicans said she seemed to be threatening Trump supporters by telling the “soldiers” to take a stand and make the Trump supporters “pay.” People believed she seemed very violent in the words she used. 

“For those of you who are soldiers, you know how to do it. Do it right, be in order, make them pay,” Johnson said. 

Johnson reported receiving multiple threats after an Oversight Committee hearing several weeks ago. The hearing included testimony being presented regarding 2020 election discrepancies. 

These threats are believed to be a result in the way she handled the hearing, including one in which a Texas man told her to “rot in hell” and threatened to burn several crosses in her yard and hang a noose from her tree. People believe the Facebook video may have been a response to the threats she was receiving. 

On Wednesday morning, Johnson made another statement.

 “I wanted to share something with the soldiers, all you soldiers! Soldiers with Christ, soldiers against racism, soldiers against misogyny, soldiers against domestic violence, soldiers against domestic terrorism, and soldiers against mistreatment of the black and brown people, rise soldiers,” she said.

In an interview that same day, Johnson said she did not intend to threaten President Donald Trump’s supporters in the video. 

Despite her explanation, the state of Michigan’s House of Representatives took matters into their own hands and responded to the media. 

In this formal address, “Threats to either Democrats or Republicans are unacceptable and un-American. They’re even more unbecoming of an elected official. Representative Johnson has been removed from her committee assignments, and we are looking into further disciplinary action as the proper authorities conduct their own investigations,” the Michigan House of Representatives said. 

Johnson claims that she was not informed by Chatfield before he announced the loss of her committee assignments, but she will not be asking to have her committee roles be reinstated.

“They’ve given me more time to do what I need to do, and that is to help people,” Johnson said. “So thank you for making me nationally known. Thank you for putting racism on the record.”

The House’s statement includes a condemnation of violence and intimidation, as well as, the reassurance that they will take action when threats are made toward public officials and when the threats come from the public officials. 

“Behavior like this will not be tolerated this term or next,” The House said in its statement.