Rally for GOP congressional candidate seeks to set apart differences
As the election draws closer candidates are working to show how they differ from opponents.
Saturday outside the Trumbull County party headquarters republican congressional candidate Christina Hagan held a "back the blue" rally.
Christina Hagan, who was once a waitress, is a mother of two children, and a former Ohio state lawmaker said, "Law enforcement is under attack by Tim Ryan who has for months aimed disparaging tweets at law enforcement on social media. Ryan says if your in law enforcement your your either a murderer or racist and it is immoral to paint these people into that deceitful nature. The letter Ryan sent to Attorney General William Barr is disgusting. When riots are happening in the street, when businesses and communities are being destroyed we need to support our police officers who put their lives on the line to protect us. I am passionate because people don't want unrest in communities where we're raising our families. Most Americans want safety and protection of law enforcement."
Hagan added, "Tim Ryan putting a target on the back of law enforcement is unacceptable. Tim voting to strip civil immunity puts police in a position of legal retribution against their entire family and their livelihoods personally. As a state lawmaker I worked to strengthen civil liability protections for officers who are doing more and more in the line of duty including administering life saving naxalone or narcan. They are stepping up every single year, we are seeing heightened drug use, heightened crime, and they don't need less money they need more. They need backing of the federal government and they need backing of state and local government That's the tone of leadership I will being to Washington D.C. as your congresswoman."
Geno Difabio who supports Hagan told the crowd, "Tim Ryan stated in every interaction with a cop for a black person, is a life or death situation. That's not a reality, that is something said to get votes. It is not reality about the good men and women who put on a uniform and walk a thin blue line between us and evil. It is not how cops are in our area are."
Candidate Hagan added, "Ryan has run away from the middle class, and abandoned too many people in the 13th congressional district. Tim Ryan said he stood for the unborn, he said he stood for your second amendment rights to protect your families, he said he stood as an anti-deficit spending who would not let spending get out of control. As the wife of a firefighter EMT, who is also a plumber and electrician I will not abandon the middle class."
She says Ryan has taken a radicalized position. And adds an economy can not thrive without law and order, that she will work with President Donald Trump to build an America that works for everyone.
Hagan said, "To create unrest and elevate the radical divide, it is simple unacceptable because black lives matter, blue lives matter, white lives matter, and every single American life matters."
We reached out to Congressman Tim Ryan for comment and was provided with this statement.
"Police officers who put their lives on the line every day know Tim Ryan has their back. Christina Hagan voted for Senate Bill 5, the unfair, unsafe law that would have stripped police officers of their collective bargaining rights to negotiate wages, benefits and safety equipment. Tim Ryan backs the Blue and their right to have a voice in the workplace. Christina Hagan is a Blue Backstabber. Police officers cannot trust Christina Hagan," said Dennis Willard, spokesperson for the Tim Ryan for Congress campaign.
