Did Marjorie Taylor Greene lie about being held at gunpoint? Real story behind 1990 Georgia high school incident
Before she was voted out of her assigned committees on February 5, 2021, controversial GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene defended herself on the House floor. Most of her speech comprised expressing regrets about her offensive comments and actions in the past and justifying them with questionable logic.
While clarifying her problematic stance on gun control, Greene mentioned a 1990 incidence when she was being held hostage at gunpoint in her high school. However, it appears that it was not true as a spokesperson from the school confirmed that Greene was not among the hostages that day.
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What did Greene say?
Greene had always held a controversial position on firearms policy as she is in favor of armed security, and believes that arming the teachers and administrators is a feasible solution to gun violence, instead of gun control.
She has also been criticized in the past for calling mass school shooting incidents a 'hoax' and also promoting violence against Democrat leaders. In 2019, she publicly accosted gun control activist and Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg on a street. 19-year-old David was in Washington that day to show his support to the legislation that would allow police to confiscate firearms from mentally unstable individuals. Greene approached David on street aggressively and asked, "David, why are you supporting red-flag laws that attack our Second Amendment rights?” The incident reportedly made him feel threatened.
On Thursday, Greene recalled an incident from her high school in 1990, when one of her schoolmates apparently brought guns and held the entire school hostage. "I understand how terrible it is because when I was 16 years old in 11th grade my school was a gun-free school zone and one of my schoolmates brought guns to school and took our entire school hostage," she said on the floor, adding that she witnessed the incident that happened right down the hall from her own classroom.
What exactly had happened?
Greene seemed to be referring to a September 1990 incident at South Forsyth County High School where she was studying. However, Jennifer Caracciolo, the present school spokeswoman told AJC that though Greene was enrolled at the school, she was not one among the hostages. In fact, Caracciolo failed to confirm if Greene had attended school that day or not. She confirmed the facts after talking to a retired teacher who was held hostage in that standoff.
Most of the students in the school were evacuated safely and sent to a nearby elementary school. In May 1991, the 17-year-old culprit was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of kidnapping and assault, as he held nine classmates hostage for five hours.
Before her removal, Greene attempted to undo the damage from her past comments saying that "Our children are our future and they’re our most precious resource. I also want to tell you 9/11 absolutely happened," referring to her earlier belief that 9/11 was a staged event.