A top Republican ally of Roger Hanshaw has admitted to kicking a Christian homeschooling mom off the House floor in the state capitol in Charleston after the woman asked to pray with him about Republican support for vaccine mandates in West Virginia.
National File has obtained exclusive audio in which Delegate Scot Heckert, who ran as a Republican in Parkersburg, confirms himself the incident took place, and that he had the House Sergeant-at-Arms remove the woman from the floor.
Two weeks following the Senate’s approval of a bill to overturn vaccine mandates in West Virginia, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw’s main deputy, who is responsible for stopping the bill, SB 460, found himself in a discussion with a West Virginia mother advocating for religious and medical rights on the house floor.
In a private discussion with Noel Fritsch, publisher of National File, Heckert revealed feeling uneasy with the woman, who he claims “warned” him about his decision. Consequently, Heckert had her removed from the house floor.
Given West Virginia’s status as a single-party consent state, allowing for lawful phone recording, National File has decided to release the section of the conversation where Heckert narrates the removal of the mother from the house floor.
HECKER’S CONFLICTING VERSIONS OF EVENTS
In addition to being bothered enough to call the Sergeant-at-Arms to handle the homeschooling Christian mom, Heckert further claimed that the woman refused to leave the floor after he asked her, though later in our conversation, Heckert himself admits that the woman left the floor without incident, indicating a conflict in his original version of events, even in our short conversation.
The ejected activist’s version of events run counter to Heckert’s version on exactly how her removal transpired.
Reached by phone, the Christian healthcare freedom activist told National File that Heckert’s claims were patently false.
National File has chosen to keep the woman’s identity confidential due to fear of retribution by state and party officials.
“That is not true at all,” she said of the claim that she refused to leave the House floor. “The Sergeant-At-Arms will confirm that,” she told National File. “I left when the Sergeant-At-Arms asked me to leave.”
“[Heckert] didn’t ask me to leave himself. He wanted to tell the Sergeant-At-Arms to tell me to leave,” she told National File.
In fact, Heckert didn’t even have the gumption to ask the Christian woman to leave himself, and instead had to ask someone else to do his dirty work for him, according to the prayer warrior and activist, and even to Heckert himself.
“It’s not like Heckert said, ‘You need to leave.’ I thought he was calling somebody else over [for something else] because he was calling an intermediary. Why would I have left [before I was asked to]? He didn’t tell me to leave, so I was waiting for the other guy [to come on over],” she explained.
“I don’t know what the protocol is for [being asked to leave the House floor]. I’ve never been kicked off the house floor before. It’s not every day someone kicks you off the house floor,” she explained.
“When the delegate asks somebody to leave, you have to go. And so I did,” she told National File.
Indeed, Heckerts own words seem to confirm the activist mom’s version of events.
You can read the transcript of the conversation below, and also listen to the exclusive audio of the phone call in which Heckert admits to having the woman removed from the floor below.
READ: West Virginia Republicans Block Bill Ditching Vaccine Mandates
A cadre of Establishment-leaning Republicans have moved to block the passage of legislation that would repeal vaccine mandates in West Virginia.
Yesterday, politicians in the House moved to block efforts to allow religious and philosophical exemptions for Christians and other parents who wish to opt their children out of vaccine mandates.
The West Virginia Committee on Health and Human Resources, led by Delegate Evan Worrell (R-Cabell), stripped from SB 460 language that would have ended West Virginia’s school-age immunization requirements.
As soon as he was sworn in, Governor Patrick Morrisey issued an Executive Order directing state health officials to offer a religious exemption to the state’s school-age immunization requirements.
National File has reached out to House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and his Chief of Staff Jeff Billings to request comment on whether he and the rest of Republican leadership support kicking Christian mothers who ask House members to pray about their votes off the floor of the State Capitol.
Neither Speaker Hanshaw or Chief of Staff Billings has responded.
SB 460 is being debated on the House floor today, and a vote on the legislation to end West Virginia’s mandates is expected early next week.
HECKERT PHONE CALL TRANSCRIPT
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NATIONAL FILE: I heard that you know, she was on the house floor. But I guess I sometimes people can go on the house floor when there’s no votes or they’re not, you’re not in session?
HECKERT: Right.
HECKERT: “It was on the floor of the house.” if we’re not if we’re not in session you can go down on the floor, you just can’t lobby.
NF: what happened in that interaction?
HECKERT: Oh i know what you’re talking about now, she just was, uh, very adamant about her side of it.
NF: And she she was opposed I guess to the vaccine mandates?
HECKERT: No, She was all about the religious mandate side of it.
NF: Okay, so she wanted to have religious exemptions, I guess
HECKERT: uh huh
NF: Okay, and then so at some point during the conversation, I guess it was uncomfortable and What happened then?
HECKERT: She just made a statement that uh, She was warning me that i should Pay attention to her side of it.
NF: Okay. And then she had to be escorted off the premises or out of the room or out of the building
HECKERT: She was asked to leave the floor of the house, yes. That’s pretty much it.
NF: Did you ask her to leave the floor of the house or who asked her to leave the floor of the house?
HECKERT: I asked her to leave, then she refused, then the door man come over and asked her to leave.
NF: Okay. And then she left without incident I’m assuming
HECKERT: She did.
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FAUCI TAKES OVER THE GOP IN WEST VIRGINIA
GOP Leadership Kicked Christian Homeschooling Mom Off House Floor After She Asked to Pray With Delegate To End Fauci-Style Vaccine Mandates
EXCLUSIVE AUDIO: pic.twitter.com/6aMQGih8py
— National File (@NationalFile) March 21, 2025
