FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — The sight of an armed man hanging Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in effigy mere feet from his homewas a hot topic of conversation across the state and even into Washington, D.C, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell condemned the act.
State Representative Kelly Flood (D) from Kentucky's 75th district was floored by what she saw.
"Reprehensible is the first word that comes to mind," she said one day after the incident. "It happened on the lawn of the peoples' house!
They hung our commander in chief during a pandemic," she continued.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a political opponent of Beshear, did not make this a partisan issue. Cameron sent out a tweet on Sunday, which read in part, "it's sickening, and I condemn it."
This is sickening, and I condemn it. We have to learn to disagree without threats of violence. https://t.co/14jN1BNAsS
— Attorney General Daniel Cameron (@kyoag) May 24, 2020
Most seemed to react similarly, though republican State Representative Kim King of Kentucky's 55th district seemed more concerned about the message behind the mock lynching than the act itself.
"My social media post accurately states my thoughts, and is already proving to be accurate," King wrote in an email exchange. She was referring to stay at home orders being unconstitutional and feels that narrative was lost on most given the rogue actions of that one perpetrator.
Flood would like to see the man responsible charged with a crime. If the law doesn't allow for that, she wants her fellow lawmakers to get to work on legislating such laws. She also feels as if this person was taking his cues from Washington.
"What I see out of the White House is fight or flight. And this gentleman was definitely echoing that," Flood said.
