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A video obtained by CNN shows Kyle Fitzsimons referring to immigrants as “substitutes,” echoing white nationalist rhetoric that immigrants to America come to wipe out white people.
Since the start of his nearly three-and-a-half-minute speech on May 10, 2017, Fitzsimons’ fanaticism and xenophobia were fully visible.
“I’m from New York; I’m from Rhode Island, ”he said, holding two license plates. “I grew up in these states and I have to tell you that I think these are multicultural hellholes.”
CNN obtained video of an eyewitness to the speech, who asked not to be named for security reasons. Mainer News was the first to report Fitzsimons’ remarks.
Legislative records, public records and four eyewitnesses all confirm to CNN that Fitzsimons is the man seen in the video making the sectarian remarks. His comments came during the public hearing on a bill that would have vastly increased funding for teaching English to immigrants, among other things to help them.
During the January 6 riot and insurgency in Washington, DC, federal prosecutors say Fitzsimons assaulted police officers, among other crimes.
CNN was unable to reach Fitzsimons directly, but in response to the video and Fitzsimons’ remarks, its public defender in the Capitol riots case told CNN “no comment.”
In the 2017 speech, Fitzsimons’ arguments reflected some of the fundamental tenets of the white nationalist “great replacement” theory. This belief is an illusion often held by white nationalists and supremacists, and it falsely claims that there is an active effort to bring in immigrants from other countries to wipe out white people.
“I am going to level this at all because you are elected officials during the opioid crisis that is affecting Maine and is killing us,” Fitzsimons said. “Kill Yankee New England culture; you do nothing for nothing.”
He went on to say that lawmakers are “bringing in the New Third World” and “bringing in the replacements.”
“I was legitimately afraid for my colleagues”
Fitzsimons then turned, motioning to someone in the audience who had spoken in favor of the bill. John Kosinski, who was in the audience that day, told CNN it was a black man.
“This gentleman behind me, I believe he was on the news yesterday,” Fitzsimons said. “You cleaned very well.”
He claimed the man was standing in front of a poster the day before which read: “Help the immigrant population navigate the juvenile criminal justice system.”
“What’s wrong with your culture is that you have to know so much about how to teach your kids to stay out of jail,” Fitzsimons told the man.
Despite an interjection from a lawmaker, Fitzsimons continued his white nationalist rhetoric by saying, “Keep Maine, Maine.
“The state motto is ‘I lead’, ‘Dirigo’,” he said, referring to the state flag. “There are two white workers on it; don’t put them at the end of the line.”
Shortly before the end of the video, Fitzsimons walks away from the podium and out of the frame.
“I remember the gasps,” former lawmaker Roger Katz told CNN. Katz was the godfather of the bill Fitzsimons was speaking against.
He described Fitzsimons’ comments as “the most racist comment I have heard in my eight years. [in the legislature]. ”
“I was legitimately afraid for my colleagues,” recalls Senator Mattie Daughtry, listening to the hearing at the dentist.
The daughter and Senator Rebecca Millett both confirmed to CNN that after the comments, a member of the Maine Capitol Police stood in the committee room during the hearings for some time afterwards.
“I’ll tell you sitting in this committee room… I felt exposed,” Millett told CNN. “Not very safe, and not knowing what this gentleman was going to do given his behavior.”
“I hope this guy doesn’t shoot me in the face”
The 2017 speech was not the last time Fitzsimons had a heated argument with a member of the Maine legislature, according to state representative Michele Meyer.
“In the spring of 2019, Kyle Fitzsimons, whom I only knew as an employee of a local company in Kittery where I shop frequently, followed me into a parking lot, parked his truck behind my car and s ‘is positioned so close to my car, I couldn’t have opened the door, ”she told CNN in a statement. “It happened quickly.”
During the confrontation, Meyer said in the statement, “he spoke about the 2nd Amendment, made derogatory remarks about the governor and speculated that America was heading for a civil war for gun rights.”
In an interview with CNN, Meyer said the whole ordeal with Fitzsimons – he was not her voter – lasted about two minutes. She said at the time that she had co-sponsored a number of gun safety bills.
She remembers listening to him, which she often did as a nurse with patients.
“I listened because I didn’t want to make the situation worse in any way,” she said. “I had no desire to argue with him, nor to defend my position, [because] it didn’t seem like this was the wise approach on my part. ”
After letting him talk, Meyer says she asked him to move her vehicle so she could leave, which he did.
“When that sort of thing happens, a lot of things go through your mind very quickly,” Meyer said. “I thought very quickly – among the fleeting thoughts I was having – I hope this guy doesn’t shoot me in the face.”
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