September 21, 2010: Congressional Candidate Says Violent Overthrow of US Government Is ‘on the Table’ if Republicans Don’t Win in 2010 Elections

Stephen Broden (R-TX), a candidate for the US Congress favored by area “tea parties,” tells an interviewer that he would not rule out the violent overthrow of the US government if the upcoming elections do not produce a change in leadership. Broden is referring to the upcoming midterm elections, which some predict will turn control of the House and/or Senate to the Republicans; he is challenging incumbent Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). Broden, a pastor from Dallas, responds to a question about a “tea party” event in Fort Worth in 2009 where he called the Obama administration “tyrannical.” He then said of the administration: “We have a constitutional remedy. And the Framers say if that don’t work, revolution.” Asked if he specifically meant the violent overthrow of the federal government, he says the way to deal with a repressive government is to “alter it or abolish it.” He then notes that the US was founded by an armed insurrection against the British government, and says: “If the government is not producing the results or has become destructive to the ends of our liberties, we have a right to get rid of that government and to get rid of it by any means necessary.… The option [of violent overthrow] is on the table. I don’t think that we should remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms. However, it is not the first option.” Dallas County GOP chairman Jonathan Neeman says Broden’s remarks are “inappropriate,” and calls them “a disappointing, isolated incident.” Dallas Tea Party organizer Ken Emanuelson, a Broden supporter, says he agrees with Broden’s statement in theory, but adds: “Do I see our government today anywhere close to that point? No, I don’t.” Broden also backpedals on claims he has previously made, including that the Obama administration “contrived” the economic crisis, and retreats from remarks characterizing Obama and other Democratic leaders as “enemies” who must be resisted in the same way that Jews should have resisted “walking into the furnaces” under the Nazi regime. Broden says his previous comparisons of Obama to Hitler, and the Obama administration to Nazis, were mistakes. [Dallas Morning News, 10/22/2010] Broden, an African-American with little name recognition outside the Dallas Republican Party, has strong ties to white conservatives, has ties to political organizations sponsored by Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck, and was recently endorsed by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R-AK). According to an analysis of his statements by the Dallas Observer, “Broden preaches that all of the nation’s ills are the product of conspiratorial plotting by an evil ‘other,’ which he variously describes as Marxists, Fabian socialists, atheists, and ‘Darwin atheists.’” [Dallas Observer, 10/28/2010] Broden will lose the election to Johnson. [Dallas Examiner, 11/3/2010]