Rodney Garcia (born January 27, 1954) is an American politician who served as a member of the

Montana House of Representatives The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years. Composition of the House In the event that the parti ...

from 2019 to 2021. He represented the 52nd district, which includes

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

. During his tenure, Garcia served on the Local Government Committee, State Administration Committee, and Transportation Committee. In 2018, Garcia admitted to a newspaper that he'd previously been convicted of a charge related to a domestic dispute with his ex-wife, though he denied wrongdoing. In 2019, in an interview for a militia news outlet, he referred to Child Protective Services as "kidnappers." On January 31, 2020, at a Republican party gathering in

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

, he raised concerns about

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

inside the government. Speaking to a reporter after the event, he described socialists as "enemies of the free state" and claimed, "So actually in the Constitution of the United States (if) they are found guilty of being a socialist member you either go to prison or are shot." When asked to reflect on the appropriateness of his comment, he insisted, "I agree with my Constitution. That's what makes us free. We're not a democracy, we're a Republic Constitution." The

Montana Republican Party The Montana Republican Party (MTGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Montana. It is headquartered in Helena. It is the dominant ruling party of the state. The party is chaired by Don Kaltschmidt. The national committeeman Art Witti ...

condemned Garcia's comments as "reckless and un-American" and demanded Garcia's immediate resignation. Garcia responded that the "only way I would give my resignation is if God asked me to." He also told reporters that he'd received threats from people who "want to shoot me," and he warned, "If you miss, I won't." Later in 2020, Garcia ran for the 26th district seat of the

Montana Senate The Montana State Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Half of the Senate is up for election every two years. ...

. He lost to Chris Friedel in the Republican primary.

References

1954 births Living people Republican Party members of the Montana House of Representatives Politicians from Billings, Montana 21st-century members of the Montana Legislature {{Montana-politician-stub