For House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, being a radical lunatic runs in the family.
On Saturday, Jeffries’ brother, Hasan Kwame Jeffries — an associate history professor at The Ohio State University — reposted a photo to social media platform X from the leftist media outlet Jacobin, celebrating the birthday of abolitionist John Brown.
“John Brown understood that only way to free America from the scourge of white supremacy was to get rid of white supremacists by any means necessary,” he said.
“He was right then. He is right now,” the post added.
John Brown understood that only way to free America from the scourge of white supremacy was to get rid of white supremacists by any means necessary.
He was right then.
He is right now. https://t.co/4PrWGZaDlr
— Hasan Kwame Jeffries (@ProfJeffries) May 9, 2026
For the unfamiliar, Brown became a national figure among radical abolitionists in the 1850s over his violent approach to ending slavery.
1854 saw the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, creating two new territories where the residents themselves were to vote on whether they wanted a government that allowed slavery or not.
A conflict called “Bleeding Kansas” emerged between competing territorial governments, one being for slavery and one being against it. Kansas for several years endured violence as heavily armed Missourians — or Border Ruffians — poured into the territory to support slavery.
When Border Ruffians sacked Lawrence, Kansas, and destroyed multiple buildings, Brown sought revenge.
PBS says it was the night of May 24, 1856, when Brown and a group of men, including his sons, went near Pottawatomie Creek where several slavery sympathizers were staying. Brown ordered James Doyle out of his home, murdering three members of the Doyle family with broadswords by splitting open their heads and cutting off their arms.
James Doyle himself was shot in the head, and two more men from nearby cabins were also shot.
Brown is also remembered for his failed attempt to lead a slave insurrection at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in October 1859, which led to his execution.
Brown has become a darling of leftists in recent years, supposedly a man ahead of his time who was willing to confront a great evil with extremely brutal tactics. In reality, abolitionists like Brown only inflamed sectional tensions between the North and South.
By admiring Brown on his birthday, Jeffries is effectively saying by any means, he will oppose his opposition, so-called “white supremacists.”
He frames Brown’s cause as his own — despite evidence to the contrary — to make his opposition as immoral as the slaveholding South. They are one and the same, according to Jeffries.
Claremont Institute senior fellow Jeremy Carl noted that the labeling to vilify his opponents was indeed noteworthy.
“Brother of U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Ohio State Prof. Host of a Podcast for the SPLC. Remember: They’re not trying to kill you because you’re a ‘White Supremacist.’ They’re CALLING you a White Supremacist so they can justify killing you.”
Brother of U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Ohio State Prof.
Host of a Podcast for the SPLC.
Remember: They’re not trying to kill you because you’re a “White Supremacist.”
They’re CALLING you a White Supremacist so they can justify killing you. https://t.co/75IZbQQw2D
— Jeremy Carl (@realJeremyCarl) May 10, 2026
As Carl also observed, this is pretty grotesque and disturbing coming from the brother of a prominent member of Congress.
Where does this messaging take us if Democrats regain majorities in the House and Senate?
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