Rep. Jamie Raskin Tells MSNBC ‘There is NO Justification’ for Terror Like in Boulder, Not Even the War in Gaza

Maryland Democrat and ranking House Judiciary member Rep. Jamie Raskin said on MSNBC Sunday that there is there is “no room for violent hatred and bigotry” in this country and “no justification for violence and terror against our people,” regardless of whatever ideological motivation someone thinks they have.”

Raskin joined The Weekend: Primetime hosts Antonia Hylton, Catherine Rampell, and Ayman Mohyeldin for ongoing coverage of the terror attack in Boulder, Colorado where multiple individuals participating in a peaceful walk on behalf of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were attacked and set on fire by an assailant who shouted “free Palestine.”

One person is in critical condition in the attack that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, called a “heinous act of antisemitism” on Sunday.

After Raskin spoke about the need to “turn around” the “terrible dynamics of violence and hatred,” and “challenge and confront anti-Semitism and racism and the other forces of hatred,” Mohyeldin asked him about the “connection” between domestic terror and “unresolved issues” abroad. He also mentioned to Raskin that in the previous hours of the show they’d spoken with former congressman Max Rose on the question.

Mohyeldin had asked Rose earlier in the show how politicians can address “fundamental issues that are leading people in our society to commit. Violent acts of terror against communities,” such as events overseas.

In his own answers, Rose both said that it would a shame for politicians to point fingers at the other party so soon after the terror attack, and also pointed his finger at Republicans in advance for his expectation that they will highlight anti-Semitism on the left in discussing the anti-Semitic terror attack.

Speaking to Raskin, Mohyeldin said they’d asked Rose “about the connection between what is happening overseas and the increased tensions that happen in this country and the challenge that it poses to law enforcement.”

“I’m wondering as a politician, as a lawmaker, as somebody who is obviously aware of what is happening overseas, how concerned are you that these lingering unresolved issues, specifically the ongoing war in Gaza, continues to resonate here in very violent ways and in sometimes anti-Semitic ways as we’re seeing over the last two weeks,” he asked.

Raskin called it a “profoundly troubling development to see, you know, all of these violent incidents taking place against the Jewish community.”

“We don’t want wars to spill over to engulf everybody all over the world in violence,” he said. “On the contrary, we need to turn it around to bring the violence and the war in the Middle East to an end so that everybody can be free of this kind of violence and terror.”

Mohyeldin began to interrupt, saying, “But do you think there’s a concern” before Raskin continued, seeming to anticipate where that question was going.

“Well, we need to bring the hostages home. We need to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. And we need turn around the dynamics of that situation,” he said. “But of course, that’s in the realm of foreign policy.”

He added: “Domestically, we simply have to say there is no room for violent hatred and bigotry, and there is no justification for violence and terror against our people from, you know, whatever provenance it comes and with whatever ideological motivation someone thinks they have.”

After essentially saying the war in Gaza is no excuse for terror, there was an extended pause from the MSNBC hosts before Hylton asked the next question.

MOHYELDIN: Congressman, we had a chance to speak to former Congressman Max Rose earlier in the program and we asked him about the connection between what is happening overseas and the increased tensions that happen in this country and the challenge that it poses to law enforcement. I’m wondering as a politician, as a lawmaker, as somebody who is obviously aware of what is happening overseas, how concerned are you that these lingering unresolved issues, specifically the ongoing war in Gaza, continues to resonate here in very violent ways and in sometimes anti-Semitic ways as we’re seeing over the last two weeks.

RASKIN: Well, it’s a profoundly troubling development to see, you know, all of these violent incidents taking place against the Jewish community. It was equally appalling when three Palestinian young men were shot in, I believe it was Burlington, Vermont, near the beginning of the war. And we don’t want wars to spill over to engulf everybody all over the world in violence. On the contrary, we need to turn it around to bring the violence and the war in the Middle East to an end so that everybody can be free of this kind of violence and terror.

MOHYELDIN: But do you think there’s a concern –

RASKIN: We need to bring the hostages- Well, we need to bring the hostages home. We need to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. And we need turn around the dynamics of that situation. But of course, that’s in the realm of foreign policy.

And then domestically, we simply have to say there is no room for violent hatred and bigotry, and there is no justification for violence and terror against our people from, you know, whatever provenance it comes and with whatever ideological motivation someone thinks they have.

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.

Correction (6/2/2025): An earlier version of this story misidentified Josh Shapiro as Colorado’s governor. He is the governor of Pennsylvania.