Sen. Brown says he reprimanded staff for video

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Senator Scott Brown says staffers and supporters have been confronted about their offensive behavior on the campaign trail.

In a video, several supporters were seen doing tomahawk chops and chanting Native American war cries. Several staffers are in the midst of the rowdy crowd. 

The senator said he sent his team a message that such behavior won't be tolerated.

The controversy over Scott Brown’s supporters using a tomahawk and chants to keep attention focused on Elizabeth Warren and her claim of Cherokee descent continues to dog him days later.

At a campaign stop in Saugus Thursday afternoon, Brown said his backers have been warned.

“It’s unacceptable and I told them that if anything like that happens again, they’ll be fired,” Brown said.

One of the Brown backers seen chanting in the video is Bradford Garnett. Garnett’s mother said his actions have been misconstrued.

Garnett’s mother talked to 7News while clutching gifts from a Native American mission she said her entire family supports.

“He has a great love for the Indians. It’s not a personal thing at all. I wasn’t there, but I don’t think they were out to hurt anyone personally, i don't ” Garnett’s mother said.

A second video, released late Wednesday, shows the senator at a summer event on the Cape where war chants can be heard in the distance.

Brown said he can’t always hear everything when he’s focused on speaking, but blames Warren for misrepresenting herself.

“The real issue here, we would not even be talking about anything to do with any Native Americans had professor Warren not misled the people of Massachusetts for months,” Brown said.

Warren, who was endorsed Wednesday by firefighters from around the state, reacted to the video with emotion.

“I am appalled. Is appalled not enough? I am appalled,” she said.

Brown, who shook hands at a campaign stop, suggested there is tension in his office between his staff and the others who have been reprimanded.

“[Garnett] is not out campaigning now. He’s obviously dealing with the embarrassment, my wrath, and the staff leaders’ admonition of the type of behavior,” Brown said.

Brown said Thursday as a Jag lawyer his biggest client is the government and that Warren’s biggest client is an insurance company, proving she is not for the little people.