Protesters Menace Cruz Family Over Kavanaugh

By Aliya Kuykendall Published on September 25, 2018

Protesters chased Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz out of a Washington, D.C., restaurant on Monday night, according to a video posted to Twitter.

Smash Racism DC, an anti-fascist activism group, posted two videos of the harassment on Twitter. One shows a group of young adults chanting “We believe survivors” towards Senator and Mrs. Cruz, who apparently are just being seated.

A woman off screen addresses Cruz, “Hi, I’d love to talk with you about Brett Kavanaugh tonight. I’m a constituent. I’d love to know what your vote is going to be, tonight. I know that you’re very close friends with Mr. Kavanaugh.”

“And do you believe survivors, sir?” a woman shouts. “Please don’t touch me,” she says to someone off camera. “Do you believe in survivors? We believe in survivors.”

The chant continues.

“No — you can’t eat in peace — your politics are an attack on all of us You’re (sic) votes are a death wish.”

“Senator, I have a right to know what your position is on Brett Kavanaugh,” a woman says, following the couple to their table.

“God bless you ma’am,” Cruz says.

“Bless you as well. I really appreciate you,” the woman responds sarcastically.

Harassing the Senator’s Wife

The woman then apparently addresses Mrs. Cruz: “I’m a survivor of sexual assault ma’am. I believe all survivors. There are now three people who have come forward, and who have said that Brett Kavanaugh has attacked them. I know you’re close friends with him. Would you talk to him about that? Would you talk to him about his position?”

“It’s time to go,” Senator Cruz says.

“How are you going to vote, sir?” a woman shouts.

In the second video, Senator and Mrs. Cruz are seen getting up from their table — no food to be seen — and leaving as they walk past a group of people chanting “We believe survivors.”

“Have a delightful evening. Excuse me,” Cruz said as he shuffles through the group.

One person made an obscene gesture and shouted the chant louder.

“Excuse me. Let my wife through,” Cruz said.

The group chants and shouts mostly inaudible questions at Cruz as he makes his way towards the exit.

‘Your Votes Are Hate Crimes’

As the Cruz couple is let out a door by a restaurant employee, the group cheers.

Two hours after posting the videos to Twitter the same account wrote a series of follow up posts. One said, “No — you can’t eat in peace — your politics are an attack on all of us You’re (sic) votes are a death wish. Your votes are hate crimes.”

According to another post, the group consists of “activists from Smash Racism DC, Resist This, DC IWW, members of DC Democratic Socialists of America, Anarchists, women, sexual assault survivors, and members of the LGBTQ community.”

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“While our interruption does not compare in scale to the interruptions his actions as a Senator have had on millions of American lives, we hope that it reminds Cruz and others like him that they are not safe from the people they have hurt.”

Brett Kavanaugh is awaiting a confirmation by the senate before he can be appointed to the Supreme Court.

For abortion advocates, the appointment of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court would be a threat to what they consider individual rights. During the confirmation hearings earlier this month, people from around the nation came to DC to protest and disrupt the hearings.

Amanda Thayer, deputy of national communications at NARAL Pro-Choice America, told USA Today her group “has not coordinated any of the arrests happening in the hearing room.” But she said the protests reflect a “roomful of people unified under this understanding that the rights that we hold dear are under grave threat right now with this nomination.”

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