A Brooklyn state senator expressed frustration after he says an angry white woman reported him to police Thursday while he was merely talking to voters outside a local subway station.
Sen. Jesse Hamilton said he was speaking with constituents at the Parkside Ave. subway entrance when a woman with a heavy Eastern European accent approached and started ranting about the Senator’s opposition to President Donald Trump, New York Daily News reported. Someone from the senator’s staff managed to get the incident on film, later sharing it on social media.
“I support Trump, and I see the difference between Democrat and Republican — and I see the difference between you and Trump,” the woman told Hamilton staffer Raul Rothblatt. ” … You (referring to Hamilton) have no difference from all others.”
The unidentified woman then points to one of Hamilton’s campaign palm cards with the slogan “Fighting Against Trump!” and chides the senator for not supporting the president.
“If he really wants nation be as one and fight for the better life and live the better life you would not put this slogan here,” the woman carries on in broken English. “This shouldn’t be here .. because this is what Democrats does.”
Moments later, the woman called the police to complain that Hamilton opposed Trump’s immigration policy, law enforcement officials confirmed with the New York Post. Cops arrived only to inform the woman that Hamilton wasn’t breaking any laws and that no police action was necessary.
Hamilton, who is Black, compared the bizarre incident to the recent incidents of white people calling the cops on Black folks for no good reason. Just last month, a woman called police on Oregon lawmaker Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.) for campaigning in her own district.
“The pattern of targeting Black men and women for being Black and alive in the communities we all share has to stop,” Hamilton wrote in a Facebook post. This pattern of calling the police on Black people going about their business and participating in the life of our country has to stop.”
Watch more in the video below.
Trump Supporter Calls Police on Senator Hamilton at Subway Station for Speaking to Constituents
A Trump supporter called the police on us today, for the crime of speaking to constituents about immigration and Trump's racist policies.* * * * * * * UPDATE: If you want to stand up to this bigotry, please support our bill S9149 by signing and sharing this petition: https://www.change.org/p/end-911-discrimination-calling-the-police-should-not-be-a-tool-of-bigotry* * * * * * The pattern of targeting Black men and women for being Black and alive in the communities we all share has to stop. This pattern of calling the police on Black people going about their business and participating in the life of our country has to stop. From a student taking a break at Yale, to a student eating lunch at Smith College, to a child selling lemonade, to a person having a barbecue in Oakland, to an Oregon state legislator knocking on doors – the list goes on and on. I will continue to speak to neighborhood residents about the important work we must accomplish together – including changing a culture of targeting Black men and women for living while Black.
Posted by Jesse Hamilton – Community Leader on Thursday, August 9, 2018
