U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D–Az.) left the capital last week for her home state, Arizona.
Over the weekend, activists followed her into a bathroom at Arizona State University, where she lectures. Inside the bathroom, the activists shouted their demands while videotaping her and her students.
In a statement on Monday, Sinema blasted the activists for their “unlawful” activities. However, President Joe Biden was asked about the incident, and he equivocated.
“I don’t think they’re appropriate tactics,” Biden said in a press conference on Monday. “But it happens to everybody.”
The activist group Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) tweeted the video. In the video, one heckler was standing near the door to record Sinema. Another stood in front of Sinema’s stall with his phone out. Sinema ignored the activists and then left the stall to wash her hands.
“I was brought here to the United States when I was 3 years old and in 2010, my grandparents both got deported because of SB 1070,” one activist said in the video. “I’m here because I definitely believe that we need this pathway to citizenship.”
She continued, “We knocked on doors for you to get you elected,” the activist continued. “And just how we got you elected, we can get you out of office if you don’t support what you promised us.”
Spokespeople for LUCHA have defended the activists. “It has required a tremendous amount of bravery from this young organizer to fight for her family and tell her story to her Senator,” LUCHA said in an email to The Arizona Republic.
LUCHA accused Sinema of ignoring their group. “She hasn’t had a public event or town hall in years,” the email said.
Sinema says otherwise. “The activist group that engaged in yesterday’s behavior is one that both my team and I have met with several times since I was elected to the Senate,” she said in a statement on Monday.
It may or may not be true that Sinema has neglected to host community meetings. However, it’s still illegal to videotape someone in the bathroom without their consent. The criminal code of Arizona states under Title 13, Section 3019:
A. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly photograph, videotape, film, digitally record or by any other means secretly view, with or without a device, another person without that person’s consent under either of the following circumstances:
1. In a restroom, bathroom, locker room, bedroom or other location where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and the person is urinating…
D. A violation of subsection A or B of this section is a class 5 felony.
LUCHA downplayed the potential illegality of this their encounter with Sinema. “No one wants to meet with their senator in the restroom,” Communications Manager César Fierros said in an email to The Hill.
Sinema called their actions illegal during her statement on Monday. She accused the activists of potentially illegal behavior like “gaining entry to closed university buildings, disrupting learning environments, and filming students in a restroom.”
Biden appeared unfazed by Sinema’s concerns about unlawful behavior.
“The only people it doesn’t happen to are people who have Secret Service standing around them,” Biden said in his press conference. So, it’s — it’s part of the process.”
Biden began his career as a criminal defense attorney, but he didn’t say whether the actions were illegal.
He also antagonized Sinema during the press conference, when talking about the spending deal.
A reporter asked, “Mr. President, it sounds like you’re putting the blame squarely on two U.S. senators for your inability to close that deal: Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin. Am I incorrect? Is that who the blame lies with?
Biden said, “Look. I need 50 votes in the Senate. I have 48.”
Biden is looking to secure 50 Senate votes for his $3.5 bill. A tiebreaking, 51st vote can be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, Sinema remains unconvinced about the bill, and she is still negotiating with Biden.
Biden declined to take questions about Sinema’ requests.
“I’ll let her tell you that,” he said. “I’m not going to negotiate in public.”
The Horn editorial team