Tempers flared behind closed doors on Capitol Hill Thursday as New York Republicans unloaded on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‑NY) — accusing him of putting politics ahead of public safety after two New Yorkers were brutally killed by illegal immigrants.
According to the New York Post, the meeting, originally set to discuss MTA issues, erupted after Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Mike Lawler charged Schumer with refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the crimes. According to GOP attendees, Schumer bolted from the room before the criticism reached full force.
Malliotakis confronted Schumer as he left. “An 83‑year‑old veteran shoved on the tracks by an illegal immigrant just died — and you guys don’t want to fund ICE,” she told The Post, recalling her words.
Lawler said he demanded Schumer stop playing games with national security funding. “‘Chuck, pass the Homeland bill — stop screwing around, enough already!’” he said, recalling that Schumer shot back that we should agree to fund TSA. “I said, ‘We have and now you have an 18-year-old girl dead because you don’t want to fund immigration enforcement.’”
A Schumer spokesperson reportedly said, “Senator Schumer is glad the NYPD quickly arrested the perpetrator and believes he should face swift justice and the severest punishment possible under the law.”
Schumer reportedly acknowledged the death of Sheridan Gorman, an 18‑year‑old Loyola University student from New York who was found shot in the head last week — another innocent life cut short, Republicans argued, because of failed border control.
The veteran, Richard Williams, a U.S. Air Force grandfather, was shoved off a Manhattan subway platform and later died of his injuries. The suspect, Bairon Hernandez, a 34‑year‑old Honduran national, was deported four times before slipping back into the country. He has been charged with second‑degree murder.
Malliotakis blasted the case as “a perfect example of how the Democrats’ failed policies at the city, state, and federal level have led to the death of an innocent veteran.”
Hernandez, she said, “was let in under Joe Biden. He was deported 4 times — still in this country. He was released back onto the street because of Kathy Hochul’s bail law after being arrested 15 times. And he wasn’t turned over to ICE because of the sanctuary policy, so this is a perfect example of how the Democrats’ failed policies at the city, state, and federal level have led to the death of an innocent veteran.”
According to The Post, “Lawler noted that Schumer ‘ran out’ after sitting in the meeting for just two minutes ‘and slammed the door shut’ as he exited.”