Santorum compares Kim Davis to Columbine victim

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum compared embattled Kentucky clerk Kim Davis to Cassie Bernall, a high school student who died in the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School after telling a gunman that she believed in God.

{mosads}“Sixteen years ago this country was tremendously inspired by a young woman who faced a gunman at Columbine, was challenged about her faith, and she refused to deny God,” Santorum said. “We saw her as a hero. Today, someone who refuses to defy a judge’s unconstitutional verdict is ridiculed and criticized, chastised, because she’s standing up and not denying her God and her faith.”

Davis has refused to issue marriage licenses to couples following the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize gay marriage.

Santorum also referenced Martin Luther King Jr. in his defense of Davis.

“Martin Luther King wrote a letter from the Birmingham jail, and he said in that letter that there are just laws and there are unjust laws, and we have no obligation to condone and accept unjust laws,” he said.

Santorum called for more stringent legislation to protect the First Amendment rights of Americans.

Former New York Gov. George Pataki criticized Santorum for his advocacy on behalf of Davis.

“We’re going to have a president who defies the Supreme Court because he doesn’t agree?” Pataki asked Santorum. “Then you don’t have the rule of law.”