Rep. Matt Gaetz Under Fire For Inviting Accused Murderer to Recite Pledge of Allegiance

Florida Representative Matt Gaetz graciously introduced an accused murderer at the House Judiciary Committee’s first hearing of the session, according to The Daily Beast.

“It is my pleasure and distinct honor to introduce to the committee Staff Sergeant Corey Ryan Beekman, an American hero and a constituent of mine residing in Pensacola, Florida,” Matt Gaetz said on February 1’s hearing. However, Gaetz seemed to not know that Beekman was charged with open murder, assault with intent to murder, and two counts of felony firearms in Michigan in 2019.

Gaetz invited Beekman, a National Guard combat veteran who has a Purple Heart,  to say the Pledge of Allegiance. 

After Beekman allegedly shot two people in a home in Mason County, Michigan—and allegedly killed one of them, 32-year-old Billy Buchanan—he was arrested. However, Beekman has never been tried in court, as his charges were “dismissed without prejudice” on September 22, 2020 because the woman who was shot refused to testify, and she was the only witness in the case. However, the “dismissed without prejudice” charge leaves the door open for a future suit. 

Beekman has since moved to Florida, where Gaetz serves as his Congressman. Gaetz mentioned that he was a prominent member of a local Florida gun club, a point that did not sit well with the members of Billy Buchanan’s family, according to the publication.

“[It] was like a knife to the heart for our family,” Billy Buchanan’s mother, Denita Buchanan told a local Northern Michigan news station after seeing Beekman being honored on Capitol Hill. “It was devastating to know that somebody with this hanging over their head was being praised as a veteran, a hero.”

Gaetz apologized in a statement to The Daily Beast, saying that he “caused some unintended consequences” and that he didn’t know about Beekman’s background when he invited him. He added, “The family of Billy Buchanan brought the situation to my attention, and I’m glad they did.”

Reportedly, Gaetz’s office sent the Buchanan family an American flag that flew over the Capitol and a signed letter from the Florida congressman in which he apologized for any pain he had inflicted. 

However, Gaetz was a bit defensive of his office, explaining “we don’t have access to any type of surveillance technology or databases that would rise to the level of even some of the folks you’d see in your local police department.” Gaetz continued, “We do have a team of dedicated young professionals who don’t look for and assume the worst in our constituents, especially our veterans.” 

Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole, who was serving in the position when Beekman was charged, shot back at Gaetz’s explanation, saying “a simple Google search, I thought” would’ve provided enough background information.

“I do understand that our federal elected officials are probably being pulled in a lot of different directions, and a lot of them don’t get good intelligence info for a variety of different situations going on,” Cole said. “That being said, in this particular case, I was disappointed with the decision that was made.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell lambasted his colleague, tweeting: “From the party that parades Kyle Rittenhouse around as a mascot…”