Senate Hearing Erupts Over 'Two Spirit' Safe Spaces
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R‑Mo.) and former Biden administration official Gregory Jackson Jr. engaged in a heated exchange over Community Justice Action Fund (CJAF) guidance that advocates funding community‑led violence‑prevention programs — including 'two spirit' safe‑space initiatives — instead of policing. The confrontation, which drew Chair Chuck Grassley’s gavel to restore order, centers on congressional scrutiny of federal gun‑violence prevention priorities and the language and programs recommended in a CJAF report.
Politics
Public Safety
🔍 Key Facts
- The exchange occurred during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and involved Sen. Josh Hawley and Gregory Jackson Jr.
- Jackson previously served as deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and now leads the Community Justice Action Fund; Hawley cited a CJAF report titled 'A Policymakers’ Playbook to Reduce Gun Violence Without Policing Communities.'
- The dispute turned into a shouting match after Hawley pressed Jackson to define 'two spirit' safe spaces and challenged the report’s recommendations to reallocate resources from police to community programs; Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley banged his gavel to halt the exchange.
📍 Contextual Background
- A U.S. House judiciary subcommittee held a meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina to hear from families of violent-crime victims on 2025-09-29.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigates incidents of targeted violence.
- A crime statistician testified that rates of murder and violent crime were falling nationwide and in Charlotte after increases early in the 2020s (as of 2025-09-29).
- Law enforcement agencies respond to active shooter incidents and may engage and neutralize suspects at the scene.
- Debarment is a federal administrative process that can render an entity ineligible to receive federal grants.