Activist and Code Pink (a pro-peace feminist organization) founder Medea Benjamin was simply walking the halls of Congress when she spotted Republican U.S. Rep. Darrel Issa of California. She asked him about Israel’s attack on Qatar, and his rude reply was ”go away.”
She followed him a few feet into his office to repeat her question, and he instructed his staff to “take her phone.” They called the Capitol police, and Medea Benjamin was arrested for “impeding a congressman,” She now has a court date for October.
Medea’s arrest is not the first attempt to criminalize dissent in this era of lies and misinformation. When National Guard roam the streets of Washington, D.C., randomly stopping, arresting and deporting people, detaining Medea is business as usual in this repressive regime.
Consider Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla, who entered a press conference to ask a question and was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents. They claimed they attacked him to assure the safety of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He was held for a brief period but received no apology.
Instead, federal agents claimed Padilla did not identify himself as a U.S. senator. He says he did and, furthermore, he was in a federal building in California, the state he represents.
One of the most egregious efforts to criminalize dissent happened when U.S. Rep. Monica McIver, a democrat from New Jersey, was indicted on two felonies and one misdemeanor for “assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with federal law enforcement officers.” Having seen the video and been apprised of the circumstances, nothing could be further from the truth.
McIver and other New Jersey elected officials were simply doing their jobs when they made an oversight visit to Delaney Hall. Federal officials attempted to arrest them for trespassing, but they weren’t. Each felony court could get a sentence of eight years, and the misdemeanor could get a year. The congresswoman is scheduled to go to trial in November.
While a vote to censure McIver failed in September, U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Democrat representing Texas, was censured because he interrupted the president’s address to a joint session of Congress in March, shaking his cane and shouting that the president had no mandate. The May vote, 224-198, had 10 Democrats voting with Republicans.
When the censure resolution was read, Green and several other Democrats sang, “We Shall Overcome” so long that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had to call a recess. Green faces no fine or jail time for the censure, but his congressional seat was one of those eliminated in the Texas redistricting.
This administration is committed to criminalizing dissent, and it has dozens of elected lackeys following the instructions of their mob boss. Absent his influence, I doubt that either Madea Benjamin or Monica McIver would have been charged. The extremist law-and-order response to dissent is a hallmark of this administration, as is evidenced by the unleashing of the National Guard in many cities, including D.C. And Congressman Green may have had a less severe punishment. Remember Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina yelling, “you lie” at President Obama. He earned a resolution of disapproval (less serious than censure) from his colleagues.
The effort to criminalize dissent is an effort to silence us. But there are resisters who will not be silenced, resisters who will not be moved. Thanks to Media Benjamin, Monica McIver, Al Green and all of those who understand that silence is complicity.
Dr Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, DC based economist and author.