Missouri Senate leader says he contacted law enforcement after Greitens campaign video
Hours after former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens released a video saying he would hunt members of the Republican party who he considered not conservative enough, the Republican floor leader of the Missouri state Senate said he had contacted law enforcement.
“We have been in contact with the Missouri Highway Patrol and hope that former Gov Greitens finds the help he needs,” Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden posted on Twitter Monday.
“Anyone with multiple accusations of abuse toward women and children should probably steer clear of this rhetoric.”
Rowden’s post was in response to a now-deleted tweet from an unaffiliated account supporting Greitens’ U.S. Senate campaign. The account, called @Greitens_Eric, no longer exists. The tweet tagged Rowden, Gov. Mike Parson and others. It said “we’ve got our permit and we’re coming for you.”
While the account was not directly tied to Greitens’ campaign, the tweet at Rowden illustrated how Greitens’ campaign video targeted political opponents in his own party.
The campaign video posted Monday showed Greitens with a shotgun while he talked about hunting for RINOs, an acronym for “Republicans in name only.” It then showed Greitens with a group of people in tactical gear breaking down the door of a house, throwing a smoke bomb and entering the room.
In the video, Greitens asked supporters to get their “RINO hunting permit” — a sticker his campaign is selling for $25.
Rowden did not respond to an email seeking to clarify whether he discussed Greitens’ campaign video or the now-deleted tweet with law enforcement. A representative from the Missouri State Highway Patrol also did not respond to requests for comment.
In response to Rowden’s tweet, Greitens’ campaign manager Dylan Johnson tweeted “Give me a break. This account obviously has nothing to do with @EricGreitens or the @TeamGreitens campaign.”
Johnson’s tweet included a video from the TV show Reno 911 showing a crying man being consoled by two police officers. “A live look at the RINOs today,” he tweeted.
Greitens was roundly criticized for the campaign video on social media and was immediately denounced by members of both parties in the wake of two high-profile mass shootings. By Monday afternoon, the video was removed from Facebook and it was “flagged” with a warning on Twitter.
Later on Monday, the Missouri Democratic Party called on Greitens to remove the “incendiary and dangerous ad.” Democrats also demanded that the Missouri Republican Party “denounce such violent rhetoric and images from their own candidate.”
“It is both disgusting and not surprising that Greitens released this dangerous, irresponsible, and reckless ad,” Missouri Democratic Party Executive Director Randy Dunn said in a statement. He said it wasn’t the first time Greitens had encouraged violence against political rivals. Earlier this year Greitens appeared in a video with Donald Trump Jr. where the two fired weapons at a shooting range and said “liberals beware.”
“Eric Greitens must remove this ad from his accounts and the Missouri GOP must condemn this messaging or it will keep happening and each time, more and more of us will be at risk.”
The Star’s Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 4:05 PM.
