JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Missouri House Ethics Committee is reviewing a complaint against a lawmaker who called for the vandal of a Confederate monument to be hanged.

Members agreed Monday to hold a preliminary hearing later on the complaint against Republican Rep. Warren Love. They did not announce a date.

Love expressed hope in a Facebook post that whoever vandalized the monument in Springfield, Missouri, would be “hung from a tall tree with a long rope.”

Love has said he was using old cowboy jargon, but Democrats calling for his resignation have said his words evoke images of lynchings of black people.

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty filed the ethics complaint against Love. She says she’s frustrated that it’s taking so long but said House procedures are being followed.

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