Members of “The Squad,” a group of left-wing members of the House of Representatives, accused firearms manufacturers of using white supremacy in the marketing of firearms Wednesday.
Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts made the claims during a hearing of the House Oversight and Reform Committee targeting the marketing of firearms, claiming that the advertisements used symbols of white supremacy. The representatives referenced advertisements while questioning the CEOs of two firearms manufacturers in a hearing held in the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Highland Park, and Buffalo.
“I’d like to draw your attention to that red tattoo featured in your company’s advertisement,” Ocasio-Cortez said to Daniel Defense CEO Marty Daniel. “Do you know what that tattoo is, Mr. Daniel?”
After Daniel said he didn’t, Ocasio-Cortez turned to Kelly Sampson, Senior Counsel and Director of Racial Justice of Brady United, who said the tattoo was a white supremacist symbol.
“So, Mr. Daniel, you may or may not know, but your company’s advertisement prominently displays iconography associated with white supremacist movements,” Ocasio-Cortez said, before pulling up a photo from the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol. “Mr. Daniel, yes or no, are you aware that your advertising department uses imagery affiliated with white supremacist movements in its marketing materials?”
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“No, ma’am, I don’t think we do –” Daniel said before being interrupted by Ocasio-Cortez.
Pressley questioned Daniel and Ruger CEO Christopher Killoy over a poster during the hearing after an adviser from the Giffords Law Center called it “dangerous,” asking if they would use their positions on the board of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) to halt such advertisements.
Daniel and Killoy told Pressley that the NSSF didn’t advertise firearms.
“As long as gun manufacturers have immunity to sell their weapons of war using harmful marketing tactics, black and brown communities will continue to be targeted, and that has got to change,” Pressley claimed. “In the face of white supremacy, my neighbors and I are undeterred in the pursuit healing and the true justice, and we will not let gunmakers incite violence against us with impunity.”
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