Tuesday night, a socialist group chased Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen out of a restaurant in D.C.
Protesters representing the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) created a commotion in the Mexican restaurant as they chanted, “Shame,” “Abolish ICE,” and “End Texas concentration camps!” — all as they surrounded Nielsen’s table.
Part one of a video of @mdc_dsa @DC_IWW and others shouting DHS Secretary Nielsen out of a restaurant. She doesn’t need to be kidnapping #immigrantchildren to deserve this treatment. Don’t give the regime a moment of rest. #KeepFamilesTogether pic.twitter.com/B3RfraOk1E
— Smash Racism DC (@SmashRacismDC) June 20, 2018
Protesters continued to shout at Nielsen until she left the restaurant to an awaiting SUV. The police arrived shortly after and temporarily held the protesters before eventually letting them go.
The DSA has stated that the protest was in response to Nielsen’s defense of the “zero tolerance” policy that has allowed for the separation of over 2,000 children from their parents on the border. In a public statement, the group even went on to said they would not allow Nielsen to “dine in peace.”
“We will not stand by and let Secretary Nielsen dine in peace, while she is directing her employees to tear little girls away from their mothers and crying boys away from their fathers at our border,” said Megan McLaughlin, a member of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America Steering Committee.
“Secretary Nielsen and everyone else who has carried out these brutal and cold-blooded orders to rip apart families should never be allowed to eat and drink in public again. These barbarous acts must end and those at the helm must be held accountable. While Secretary Nielsen’s dinner may have been ruined, it is nothing compared to the horrors she has inflicted on innocent families.”
Nielsen became a household name in the media after her appearance during the press briefing Monday, where she defended the Trump administration's enactment of the current border laws, while also encouraging Congress to fix the laws via legislation addressing the family separation policy.