The Arizona State University Police Department has asked the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to prosecute the immigration activists who filmed themselves confronting Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) at the school over her stonewalling of the sweeping reconciliation package, and following her into a bathroom as they did so several weeks ago.
They should flush them out
Put Sinema under arrest for her fashion crimes, and to prevent similar crimes moving forward.
Many universities consider themselves a marketplace of ideas. Sinema considers her own needs above the voters. Sinema could do better to let voters in her state know that they are heard. Squelching protest would be chilling free speech. Sinema could try to tamp down thoughts of prosecuting these Democrats. She will not oppose their prosecution. Unfortunatly, that is who she is.
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
I wonder how these police feel about the Jan 6 uprising?
Oh, don’t make my clutch my pearls!
No way this gets prosecuted. They didn’t “disrupt an educational institution” and did not film Sinema on a toilet or state of undress. I think they crossed a line when they followed her in to the bathroom but no way you prosecute this trivial shit at the risk of chilling valid political protest and speech.
No one should be fooled by this sham. It is about prosecuting dissent. Not criminal acts.
Disorderly conduct is barely plausible. Disrupting an educational institution is not even remotely plausible. And the First Amendment is going to prevent conviction on either charge.
But the po-po’s gotta po-po.
Our “maverick-ette” turns out to be a bathetic pantywaist in a clutch
University Police tend to be more fascist than city police, in my experience (see UC Berkeley Police in the 80s)…
No. They should not be prosecuted.
I totally agree. Wannabe cops who are just slightly less bright than mall security. Plus, they tend to resent the hell out of the students and faculty.
Sinema released a statement the following day saying the confrontation was “not legitimate protest.”
I’ve seen pols try to pull this card from out their sleeve and it fails.
Oh well. Welcome to the Fascist States of America. May I take your rights? Would you like prison with that order?
Open carry is legal in AZ for anyone over 18 who can own a gun. Concealed carry is legal for anyone over 21 who can own a gun and does not require a permit.
Screaming at your elected officials and law enforcement while holding high powered rifles is totally fine. Speaking to them while they pee (without brandishing a weapon) is when you get charged with causing a disturbance.
Granted, this was a university so weapons are not allowed, but striking in how pointed questions are also similarly banned.
Ah, the authoritarian’s old friend, disorderly conduct. There’s not a disorderly conduct statute in the country that isn’t unconstitutionally vague, and most are overbroad as well: the AZ statute is both. Thanks so much Justice O’Connor, for making violations of our rights practically unreviewable.
It’s in the effort. The threat is intended to chill and for many that just don’t get what America is about it will do just that.
It makes a nice story but it isn’t going to make much of a prosecution.
The NYT is reporting that five veterans serving on an advisory council for Senator Sinema have resigned.
In case you run into their paywall, here’s a quick summary:
In a letter obtained by the NYT, five veterans resigned from their posts as advisors to Sen. Sinema on Thursday, publicly accusing her of “hanging your constituents out to dry”.
The letter specifically mentions her refusal to abolish the filibuster and her opposition to parts of Mr. Biden’s Build Back Better proposals.
“You have become one of the principal obstacles to progress, answering to big donors rather than your own people,”
The veterans letter will be featured in a new advertisement by Common Defense, a progressive veterans’ activist group.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/us/politics/sinema-veterans-resign.html
Neither is legal on the grounds of a public or private university that has prohibited it. Arizona State has prohibited it.
How dare they petition the government for a redress of their grievances.