Man removed from NYC crime hearing after shouting insults at Schiff

The House Judiciary Committee hearing about violent crime in New York on Monday descended into disarray after hecklers interrupted Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and shouted at him, calling him a “scumbag” and humoring the lawmakers with a “very unfortunate attack” on Ralph Nader.

During Schiff’s opening remarks, in which he criticized Republicans for holding the hearing in New York and accusing them of coming to the defense of former President Trump in the aftermath of his criminal charges in the city, an audience member interrupted the California Democrat. 

“You’re a scumbag,” the audience member shouted at Schiff as Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) attempted to restore order and asked Capitol Police to remove the man from the hearing.

The man also shouted that the committee was paying “attention to people who are justifying a bunch of families dying.”

“You guys are scumbags! All of you! Every one of you!” the man concluded.

As the man was escorted out by police, another man got up and shouted that the hearing was Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s fault, laying blame at his feet for violent crime in the city. Bragg, who is prosecuting the case against Trump, has been a frequent target of conservative criticism.

“This is all because of Alvin Bragg. Ralph Nader, you’re a disgrace to this country,” the man added, possibly attempting to refer to committee ranking member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).

The name-drop of Nader, the former third-party presidential candidate, seemed to confuse the lawmakers, eliciting laughs from the panel.

“That was a very unfortunate attack on Ralph Nader,” Schiff said, getting laughs from other lawmakers and audience members.

Once the committee returned to order and the disruptive audience members were removed, Schiff returned to the attack on Nader.

“Those comments about Ralph Nader are way out of line,” he joked.