Blumenthal Honors Hate Crimes Victims Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer on the Senate Floor

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) spoke on the Senate Floor ahead of today’s vote on the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act (Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act). The Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act was approved by the Senate today as an amendment to the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. It is named for two victims of hate crimes: Khalid Jabara, who was killed in 2016, and Heather Heyer, who was killed in 2017.

“But what is most important to remember about each of these 198,000 incidents is that they involve real people, real communities, lives torn apart, communities torn asunder. In the most heartbreaking cases, they involve real lives that are lost forever, real families who will never see their loved ones again,” Blumenthal said.

“The NO HATE bill that the Senate is considering today is named for two of those people: Heather Heyer and Khalid Jabara. In just a few moments, I'd like to spend this time on the Senate floor honoring them and their families. We are here because of them.”

“There will always be hateful people who want to lash out violently at the world. They will lash out at Muslims, at Jews, at African Americans, at Asian Americans, at Pacific Islanders. But America is above it. America is better than they are, and we owe Heather Heyer, Khalid Jabara and every other victim of hate crimes from the Orlando nightclub massacre to the shooting in El Paso, this kind of action that we are taking today.”

The full transcript of Blumenthal’s remarks is copied below.

I’m honored to follow our distinguished Judiciary Committee Chairman and Whip, Senator Durbin, who has fought so hard for the principles and values that are embodied in the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE bill which is part of the legislation and it is, indeed, bipartisan that hopefully we will pass today.

The fact is that this August marks two excruciatingly sad anniversaries. It will be four years since Heather Heyer was killed when a white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of peaceful protestors and it will be five years since Khalid Jabara was shot and killed on his own front porch by his neighbor, an avowed and virulent racist.

The temptation is to get lost in the numbers and statistics about hate crimes. And make no mistake, these statistics are horrifying, especially the surge in hate crimes directed against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

The FBI Reported just over 7,300 hate crimes in 2019. The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics estimate that there were an average of 198,000 hate crime victimizations in 2017.

Hate crimes are vastly underreported, and one of the objectives of the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE bill is to spur greater reporting so we know the horrifying dimensions and magnitude of this problem, and we can better fashion solutions to fight them.

But what is most important to remember about each of these 198,000 incidents is that they involve real people, real communities, lives torn apart, communities torn asunder. In the most heartbreaking cases, they involve real lives that are lost forever, real families who will never see their loved ones again.

The NO HATE bill that the Senate is considering today is named for two of those people: Heather Heyer and Khalid Jabara. In just a few moments, I'd like to spend this time on the Senate floor honoring them and their families. We are here because of them.

Heather Heyer was counter protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, when she was murdered by a white supremacist who purposefully ran his car into a crowd of protesters, also injuring 19 other people.

Heather is remembered as a young woman with a big heart. She devoted her life for the fight for justice and equality. The foundation named in her honor notes that, “Heather was a young woman deeply involved in taking a stand against injustice when she didn't have to do so, who spoke passionately about what she believed in.”

She was just 32-years-old when she was murdered.

Khalid Jabara was shot on the steps of his own home, his family's home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by a neighbor who had been harassing the Jabara family for months. That family had come to America to flee civil war and religious persecution in Lebanon, only to be terrorized here by their racist, murderous next-door neighbor.

Khalid is remembered for his sense of humor and unfailing devotion to his family. “He cared for our entire family, our friends, and people he didn't even know. He created every Jabara family joke and filled their lives with love and laughter.”

Jabara was 37-years-old when he was murdered.

Today's vote honors the memory of those two individuals, and the thousands of other individuals who have been victims of similar hate crimes, un-American, abhorrent, unacceptable. Today we make a statement that we will not accept those kinds of hate crimes in America, and I'm grateful to the entire Jabara family and to Susan Bro, Heather's mother, for their unfailing devotion to ending hate and their courageous advocacy in support of the NO HATE act.

And I will also want to thank my partner in this legislation, Senator Moran of Kansas. We would not be here today without his support and bipartisan cooperation on this bill.

There will always be hateful people who want to lash out violently at the world. They will lash out at Muslims, at Jews, at African Americans, at Asian Americans, at Pacific Islanders. But America is above it. America is better than they are, and we owe Heather Heyer, Khalid Jabara and every other victim of hate crimes from the Orlando nightclub massacre to the shooting in El Paso, this kind of action that we are taking today.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the Floor.

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