Mace takes the house of the house with accusations of rape and sexual predation

The representative Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican, who in recent weeks has launched a race for the governor, accused her former fiancé on Monday evening and three other men of having drugged and raped her and other women, And to film and take obscene photographs of minor women and girls without their consent.

In an incredibly graphic speech on the floor of the house which had little precedent, Ms. Mace said that men, whose photographs she named and displayed on a sign where legislators more generally displayed graphics and graphics on questions of politics, were involved in the “premeditated, premeditated, calculated exploitation of innocent women and girls in my district. »»

“You have reserved a single-way ticket for hell,” she said, referring directly to men at some point in a speech that lasted almost an hour. “It’s constantly. There are no connections. So me and all your victims can watch you rot in eternity. »»

On the house floor, Ms. Mace was protected by the speech and debate clause, even though she accused men of having repeatedly assaulted incapable women and filming it. The clause provides for immunity from the legislators of criminal proceedings or civil proceedings, as for slander, when they act “in the legislative sphere”. Ms. Mace did not propose any evidence in support of the accusations, although she said that she had a lot of this material.

She refused to answer all the follow -up questions for journalists outside the Capitol on Monday evening and did not respond to a separate request to provide a corroboration. The New York Times did not independently verify any of the allegations.

In a statement shortly after Ms. Mace finished speaking, Patrick Bryant, the former fiancée she accused by her name, denied her account.