Illegal Immigration Activists Who Harassed Sinema in Public Bathroom Will Face Charges
In yet more fallout from one of the biggest political self-owns in recent memory, police have recommended charges be filed against four left-wing activists who recorded themselves harassing Arizona Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema while she was in a bathroom stall and then uploaded the exchange to social media.
According to AZFamily.com, police at Arizona State University confirmed Wednesday they had submitted misdemeanor charges against four people to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. KTAR-TV reported the office is reviewing the charges.
The incident occurred Oct. 3 at ASU’s Phoenix campus, where Sinema teaches a class.
Activists from Living United for Change in Arizona — a group that focuses on activism on behalf of illegal immigrants — first confronted Sinema in a classroom, then followed her to a restroom after she pushed past them.
The individuals in the video attacked her for refusing to support President Joe Biden’s proposed $3.5 trillion spending plan as well as a Democrat-backed immigration bill that would provide amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, among other things.
“We knocked on doors for you to get you elected. Just how we got you elected, we can get you out of office if you don’t support what you promised us,” a LUCHA activist yelled in the video.
“I was brought here to the United States when I was 3 years old and in 2010 my grandparents both got deported because of SB 1070,” the activist, identified as Blanca in a tweet, continued. “And I’m here because I definitely believe that we need a pathway to citizenship.”
?BREAKING: Blanca, an AZ immigrant youth confronts @SenatorSinema inside her classroom, where she teaches @ ASU. “in 2010 both my grandparents got deported bc of SB1070…my grandfather passed away 2 wks ago & I wasn’t able to go to Mexico bc there is no pathway to citizenship.” pic.twitter.com/JDZYY2fOD2
— LUCHA Arizona (@LUCHA_AZ) October 3, 2021
Sinema proceeded to emerge from the stall, wash her hands and walk past the protesters.
The Arizona senator would later release a statement saying the bathroom ambush “was not legitimate protest.”
“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,” she said.
Statement Following Events at ASU on Sunday pic.twitter.com/4d3BF9P8CO
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) October 4, 2021
Legal implications aside, the incident was already a self-own for LUCHA and the left.
In an echo chamber, yes, perhaps toilet-based harassment of a sitting U.S. senator counts as a W. The reason this one reverberated far past the walls of the hard-left echo chamber, however, wasn’t just Sinema’s name value. Even by the low standards of political civility we’ve set for ourselves in space year 2021, yelling at a politician while she tried to use the lavatory still manages to shock us — and this is to say nothing of the security threat it represented.
Then there was the Democrats’ fumbled response on this. Remember: Even though she isn’t a down-the-line team player, Sinema is still on the roster. Would they prefer the alternative, Republican Martha McSally? Or whoever replaces Sinema if she goes hard-left like LUCHA wants and then loses in 2024 because of it?
Thus, the optics were less-than-ideal when President Joe Biden’s dishwater-mild “condemnation” of the incident included his claim that “it happens to everybody. The only people it doesn’t happen to are people who have Secret Service standing around them. So it’s part of the process.”
WOW. Biden just dismissed Senator @kyrstensinema being harassed and cornered into a bathroom this weekend, saying “it happens to everybody… it’s part of the process.”
WATCH. This is absolute insanity. pic.twitter.com/UUmRnEJIkm
— Danny De Urbina (@dannydeurbina) October 4, 2021
That would have sounded cretinous even if it weren’t coming from a guy who has Secret Service standing around him at all times.
Unfortunately, this “part of the process” potentially broke several laws. For one, access to the building is restricted and requires a key card. It’s unclear whether the LUCHA activists are students or had access, but Sinema accused the activists of “deceptively entering a locked, secure building” in her statement. An Arizona law also bans recording an individual in a bathroom.
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However, none of the activists will face charges for illegally recording in a bathroom, according to the Arizona Republic. The charges submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office include disorderly conduct and disruption of an educational institution misdemeanors for all four activists.
What will Maricopa County do? That remains to be seen.
However, if the counterproductive infamy and the threat of a trip through the legal system are enough to convince other elements of the fringe left that trying to pass off this kind of tawdry harassment as activism simply isn’t worth it, consider this one a win.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
