Cub Scout's Questions for Lawmaker Get Him Kicked Out of Den

His mom says den leader was not a fan of 11-year-old's line of questioning
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 19, 2017 1:00 PM CDT
Cub Scout's Questions for Lawmaker Get Him Kicked Out of Den
From left to right, GOP state legislators Vicki Marble, Ted Harvey, Randy Baumgardner, Larry Crowder, and Mark Scheffel stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the 2014 session of the Colorado Legislature at the Capitol in Denver on Jan. 8, 2014.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

A Colorado state senator was visiting, and Ames Mayfield had questions for her. Specifically, questions about gun control, as well as comments the lawmaker made back in 2013 regarding black people. As a result, Ames was kicked out of the organization that Sen. Vicki Marble was visiting. That organization is a Cub Scout den, and Ames is an 11-year-old fifth-grader. His mom tells the Denver Post the den leader was upset by Ames' questions for Marble on Oct. 9 and kicked him out; specifically, the den leader stopped the line of questioning after Ames asked, "Why on Earth would you want someone who beats their wife to have access to a gun?" the Denver Channel reports. His mom insists Ames did the research in advance of the meeting and came up with the questions on his own ("the only coaching I gave him was to be respectful"), though the GOP senator seems to disagree.

"I don't blame the boy for asking the questions, since I believe there was an element of manipulation involved," Marble emailed the Post. Ames' other Q's stemmed from a 2013 legislative poverty hearing during which Marble noted life expectancy "problems in the black race," such as sickle cell anemia and diabetes, then added, "Although I've got to say, I've never had better barbecue and ... chicken and ate better in my life than when you go down South." At the den meeting, Ames said he "was astonished that you blamed black people for poor health and poverty because of all the chicken and barbecue they eat." Marble responded, "That's not how it went down. ... That was made up by the media." She also praised "multicultural foods" in the US but said, "We just better figure out our genetics." The Scouts' Denver Area Council is evaluating the matter; the Mayfields are seeking a new den. (More Boy Scouts of America stories.)

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