Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) decried Saturday leftists harassing her inside a bathroom over the weekend as “wholly inappropriate” and “unacceptable.”
Activists with LUCHA Arizona confronted Sinema outside her classroom at Arizona State University (ASU), even following her into the restroom as they attacked her for not supporting President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act.
Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-AZ) have been reluctant to back the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act, which would serve as a radical transformation of America’s social welfare programs and climate change programs. Since Democrats have a one-member majority in the Senate, Sinema and Manchin represent the pivotal swing votes necessary to gain a majority to pass their radical legislation.
Biden called out Sinema and Manchin as the “two” people blocking his legislative agenda.
In a statement, the Arizona Democrat attacked the leftist activisits for engaging in “unlawful activities,” even though she has engaged with LUCHA Arizona.
She said:
Yesterday, several individuals disrupted my class at Arizona State University. After deceptively entering a locked, secure building, these individuals filmed and publicly posted videos of my students without their permission — including footage taken of both my students and I using a restroom.
In Arizona, we love the First Amendment. We know it is vital to our democracy that constituents can freely petition, protest, or criticize my policy positions and decisions. The activist group that engaged in yesterday’s behavior is one that both my team and I have met with several times since I was elected to the Senate, and I will continue engaging with Arizonans with diverse viewpoints to help inform my work for Arizona.
Yesterday’s behavior 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.
In the 19 years I have been teaching at ASU, I have been 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.
“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,” she added.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.