Washington, DC—In the wake of a reported shooting incident near the home of CNN media personality Lou Dobbs, NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, denounced violence or the threat of violence as a means to an end and repeated its call for toning down the rhetoric surrounding the immigration debate.
“Our thoughts are with Lou and his family,” said NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía. “Our community knows all too well the impact that extreme rhetoric and a hostile climate can have on an issue like this. Every year since the immigration debate started, hate crimes against Latinos have increased, as has the number of hate groups targeting Latinos.”
“While it is unclear who or what was behind this particular incident, we know that violence has no place in this debate,” Murguía continued. “We have appealed to the networks repeatedly over the past three years to tone down the demonization of immigrants that is purveyed nightly over the nation’s cable network news and talk radio. We will continue our work to ensure that cooler heads on all sides of this debate prevail.”
