claim: u.s. sen. ted cruz criticized democratic legislators for wanting to "arrest" churchgoers but not "looters."
question: did ted cruz say democrats wanted to ‘arrest churchgoers’ but not ‘looters’?
origin: in early june 2020, social media users began sharing a quote attributed to u.s. sen. ted cruz, r-texas, accusing “authoritarian democratic leaders” of failing to punish “looters” while wanting to arrest “law abiding citizens at church,” with some users asking whether he really made the remark:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  cruz did in fact make the comment. it is posted to his official twitter account:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  authoritarian democratic leaders were eager to send law enforcement to arrest law abiding citizens at church, or in the parks. but, when it comes to violent protestors &amp; looters, suddenly these same leaders are deciding its bad politics to enforce the law. pic.twitter.com/4yjfuvpk6n
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  — senator ted cruz (@sentedcruz) june 2, 2020
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  cruz was referring to what he viewed as disproportionately harsh punishment for church parishioners who wanted to attend religious services in person despite stay-at-home measures enacted in april and may 2020 to slow the spread of the covid-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. he compared the measures to what he called lenient approaches to violent protests that occurred in late may 2020 in response to the in-custody death of george floyd in minneapolis, an unarmed black man.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  video of floyd’s may 25, 2020 death, in which former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin knelt on his neck while floyd pleaded that he couldn’t breathe until he lost consciousness, sparked weeks of nationwide protests marked by widespread violence early on. thousands of people were arrested nationwide amid resulting protests.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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comment: cruz criticized democratic political leaders for what he perceived to be leniency.
summary: cruz was referring to what he viewed as disproportionately harsh punishment for church parishioners who wanted to attend religious services in person despite stay-at-home measures enacted in april and may 2020 to slow the spread of the covid-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. he compared the measures to the lenient approaches to violent protests that occurred in late may 2019 in response to in-custody death of george floyd, an unarmed black man.