Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was forced to lock herself inside a bathroom after young activists ambushed and confronted her regarding her stance on the Build Back Better program, insisting that she carve a "pathway to citizenship."
The young activists encountered Sinema in a classroom that the lawmaker at Arizona State University was teaching. During the confrontation, the activists said they supported Sinema during the elections and argued that they would not support her anymore if she did not give them what she promised.
Ambushed by Young Activists
Later, the young activists initially confronted Sinema at her ASU classroom before following her to the bathroom. They continued to shout their demands even after the lawmaker locked herself inside a stall, calling for support for United States President Joe Biden's Build Back Better program.
The incident was captured on video using a mobile phone where one of the activists could be heard saying that the country needed the Build Back Better program right now. "I was brought here to the United States when I was three years old and in 2010 my grandparents both got deported because of S.B. 1070. And I'm here because I definitely believe that we need a pathway to citizenship," another activist said, Yahoo News reported.
The activists were later identified as members of the social justice group Living United for Change in Arizona. They continued to follow Sinema from the bathroom when she went back to her classroom. They said they would not have resorted to such tactics if the Democratic representative delivered on her commitments.
The group of young activists said that Sinema has been difficult to contact amid widespread criticism of her opposition to the Build Back Better program. During the recent incident, video footage captured the moments where activists could be heard chanting to pass the Build Back Better and, "Undocumented! Unafraid!" The Daily Beast reported.
The situation comes after Sinema faced protesters in Phoenix, where she was called a "Clown of Arizona." On Saturday, the incident occurred at a fundraiser in the Royal Palms, a pricey resort, and had activists arguing the lawmaker should have been in Washington voting on bills to make the United States a better country.
Failure to Support the Bill
Later, a small group gathered in front of the luxurious resort where the fundraiser was being held and called on Sinema to support Biden's Build Back Better program. On Saturday, the incident came as the Democratic representative criticized Democratic leadership, describing what she said was an "inexcusable" failure to agree on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. She said that the move betrayed the American people's trust.
The moderate Democrat said that it was inexcusable for the United States White House to fail to agree on the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act. She expressed her disappointment for communities across the nation that would have benefitted from the legislation. Sinema added that the blocking of the bill denied Americans access to millions of good-paying careers, safer roads, cleaner water, reliable electricity, and better internet services, Fox News reported.
