Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) condemned the actions of the left-wing activists who harassed and filmed and followed her into a bathroom at Arizona State University over the weekend, calling their actions unlawful and not protected by the First Amendment.
Sinema, a moderate Democrat who has refused to rubber-stamp left-wing legislation and has drawn the ire of progressives for it, said the group of individuals “deceptively entered a locked, secured building” and then publicly posted videos of their encounters with others, “including footage taken of both my students and I using the bathroom” in the building.
“Yesterday’s behavior was not legitimate protest,” said Sinema in a Monday statement. “It is unacceptable for activist organizations to instruct their members to jeopardize themselves by engaging in unlawful activities such as gaining entry to closed university buildings, disrupting learning environments, and filming students in a restroom.”
“In the 19 years I have been teaching at ASU, I have committed to creating a safe and intellectually challenging environment for my students. Yesterday, that environment was breached. My students were unfairly and unlawfully victimized. This is wholly inappropriate,” she added.
During the encounter, they threatened that if she did not pass President Joe Biden’s agenda, they see to it that she be removed from office. The individuals also appeared to be asking for a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
“We knocked on doors for you to get you elected, and just how we got you elected, we can get you out of office if you don’t support what you promised us,” said one of the women who confronted Sinema.
The senator said in a statement that she has met with members of the activist group on other occasions. Due to privacy concerns, The Daily Wire has decided against sharing the footage.
“It is the duty of elected leaders to avoid fostering an environment in which honestly-held policy disagreements serve as the basis for vitriol — raising the temperature in political rhetoric and creating a permission structure for unacceptable behavior,” said Sinema in the statement.
Statement Following Events at ASU on Sunday pic.twitter.com/4d3BF9P8CO
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) October 4, 2021
One of the activists has since weighed in on the incident, saying in a statement, “I will speak about the controversy regarding following Senator Sinema into the bathroom when I have time.”
“None of you have the right to tone police my desperate demands for labor protections after what I have endured as a human trafficking survivor due to the f***ed up gig economy,” she wrote.
“For now, connect with the fact that you are on stolen Indigenous land and Indigenous women and children go missing and murdered because we don’t have access to stable jobs, stable housing, clean water, clean food, or stable decent healthcare despite the fact that Indigenous people have held up our end of the treaty in assimilating and getting educated,” she added.