ST. LOUIS _ A Missouri state representative drew scorn and calls to resign on Wednesday afternoon after the lawmaker seemed to call for a lynching on social media.
Rep. Warren Love, R-Osceola, posted a link to an article describing vandalism discovered Wednesday to a Confederate monument in Springfield National Cemetery.
"This is totally against the law," Love wrote. "I hope they are found & hung from a tall tree with a long rope."
Love represents the 125th District in rural western Missouri. He was first elected in 2012 and ran unopposed in 2016.
Criticism on social media came swift. Rep. Shamed Dogan of Ballwin, the only black Republican in the Legislature, posted a screenshot of the Facebook post and condemned it.
"Vandalizing property is wrong, but hoping for people to be hung/lynched over it?? Way over the line!!" Dogan tweeted. "What is wrong with us #moleg?"
"It's still up there as of a few minutes ago," Dogan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at about 5:45 p.m. local time Wednesday.
Stephen Webber, the chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party, called for Love's resignation.
"This is a call for lynching by a sitting State Representative," Webber tweeted. Calls for poltical (sic) violence are unacceptable. He needs to resign."
Love confirmed the Facebook post, but told the Post-Dispatch he was not calling for a lynching.
"Oh no," he said. "Hell no!"
"That was an exaggerated statement that, you know, a lot of times is used in the western world when somebody does a crime or commits theft. ... That's just a western term and I'm very much a western man. You know, I wear a coat. You know, I dress western. And, you know, I'm the cowboy of the Capitol."
