(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/14/2024) A gun rights advocate dropped the "N" word Thursday morning in a Senate committee while intensely arguing against bills to codify the state Capitol's gun ban into law.  

The man was identified as Avi Rachlin from Groypers for America, which organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue have called a "loose network" of “alt right” individuals with white supremacist themes.  

Discussing  SB 857 and SB 858, Rachlin tried to make the case that the legislation was racist in that only white residents would be impacted by the changes, allegedly because they were the ones primarily entering the Capitol with firearms. Speaking loudly into the microphone, he claimed the bills were only coming up because of President-elect Donald TRUMP's recent win, and because the lawmakers didn't like white people.  

When he started saying the "N" word, attempting to argue where the state's gun violence was coming from, Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) – chair of the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee – immediately gaveled him down. He challenged her to have “armed men with guns” remove him. Earlier on social media, he posted that “the only Sergeant at Arms in the room is a woman lol," uploading a photo of the chamber's female sergeant in his X thread documenting the event.  

Instead, Chang gave the floor to Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), the committee's minority vice chair, who expressed his displeasure at the word choice and called Rachlin's arguments "ridiculous."  

Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) followed up, telling the testifier "the word that you used was inappropriate, and it will not get you anywhere in this Legislature."  

Chang refused to engage with the speaker further and called for a vote to move the bills to the Senate floor. The bills passed by party-line in the committee, 3-2.  

Rachlin, who said he was a Detroit resident, was formerly the southeast regional director of Michigan Open Carry, an organization vocally opposed to pistol free zones. His behavior Thursday tracks with activity documented while he was studying at Pennsylvania State University two years ago.  

More than 1,400 signatures were collected through an online petition form trying to expel Rachlin from Penn State – which has nearly 100,000 students across its multiple campuses – for being a "violent misogynist, homophobic, white supremacist." The petition form said Rachlin publicly wished to "shoot up a school" and called people the "N" word.  

According to the Centre Daily Times in June 2022, Rachlin was monitored by Penn State's police department after an altercation with a faculty member during a vaccine-focused rally, out of concern that he posed a "potential threat in the community."  

Together, the bills would enshrine the Michigan State Capitol Commission's firearm ban into state law, extending the regulations to the House and Senate's nearby business buildings. The commission's ban was put in place last year and allows currently serving legislators to carry if they have concealed pistol licenses (CPLs).  

The Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners described Rachlin's behavior as “abhorrent” on social media, and that the group “emphatically condemns the racist remarks made today and thoroughly rejects bigotry.”  

Before Rachlin's remarks, the meeting had some points of tension.  

For example, Runestad asked Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) – who testified in support of the legislation – if she informed Capitol security personnel that firearms were directly pointed at her during spring 2020, when several pandemic mandate protesters entered the building with openly displayed guns. 

Runestad wanted Anthony to hurry up with her responses as she described the demonstration and aftermath, claiming "she's gonna filibuster the whole dang committee meeting" and that she might bring up "what she ate for breakfast" before directly answering him.  

Anthony, who's also the Senate Appropriations chair, is a gun owner herself. Although she was not carrying on Thursday, she said "it's a mixed bag" when she determines whether to be armed in the Capitol.  

"We can't share all of the details, but often after a contentious vote, there is an increase in death threats, or just when I'm going into certain environments," Anthony said. "So I think it's a case by case basis of when I decide to carry, but again, I like to comply with the existing law and the existing procedures.  

"And if that right was taken away for this building, I would be open to no longer carrying anymore."  

She said the debate that the Capitol often sees features people letting their emotions get the best of them, and she thinks having firearms readily available to them "is just asking for trouble."  

Anthony left the committee room more than 10 minutes before Rachlin approached the microphone.  

Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia), a bill sponsor, posted a video on social media shortly after describing the event as truly disgusting and something she "never thought I'd see."