An exchange between Rep. Steve Knight (R-Calif.) and a group of anti-immigration protesters grew heated last week when one demonstrator accused the freshman congressman of voting "for amnesty."
In a video posted over the weekend by We The People Rising, an anti-illegal immigration group, protesters confronted Knight at his Simi Valley, California, office about H.B. 240, the bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security that passed earlier this year. Republicans initially attempted to attach riders aimed at blocking President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration from going into effect, but eventually passed a "clean" version of the bill to avert a shutdown of the department.
"You told me you didn't vote for amnesty and you did, I looked it up on the Internet," a protester said as he shook Knight's hand. "You lied to me."
"Mike, if you touch me again, I'll drop your ass," Knight said to the man. "One more time, Mike."
"Understand, I never voted for amnesty, never," he continued, pointing out that he voted for the first version of the bill that included the anti-immigration provisions, and then later for the clean version when it was clear the immigration riders would not pass in the Senate.
Watch the video of the exchange above.
"I have dealt with this group on several occasions and every time they try to escalate our conversations to a level that is not constructive," Knight said in a statement provided to The Huffington Post on Tuesday. "Over this past weekend, I lost my cool and I regret responding the way I did."
H/T SantaClarita.com
This post has been updated to include the congressman's statement.
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