Red Scare: Dem Senator Suggests Russians Behind Pelosi Protest

Did Russian operatives recruit the Latino activists who crashed House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s press conference on Monday?

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen apparently thinks they may have.

“Who knows who’s stirred up this kind of animosity. What we know about the Russians and their interference in the 2016 elections is that they tried to increase divisions within this country,” Shaheen said Tuesday on CNN.

[lz_jwplayer video=Rd34NFCi]

It’s unclear what connection Shaheen thinks Russia might have to the group that was protesting, which called itself the “Immigration Liberation Movement.”

The activists interrupted the Pelosi event promoting the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act with call-and-response chants, demanding a “clean” DREAM Act, amnesty for all 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., an end to all deportations, and an end to all border enforcement.

“Shut down ICE, Shut down ICE, Shut down ICE,” they yelled in unison at one point, surrounding and shouting down the former Speaker of the House as she tried to answer them.

As the demonstration went on, they became more aggressive, raising fists and shouting “Liar” at Pelosi, after which she left the room.

On Tuesday morning, anchor Alisyn Camerota of CNN asked Shaheen, “Why is she, of all people, getting this backlash from dreamers?”

Shaheen responded that the dreamers were just frustrated.

“But she’s trying to protect them. I mean she’s the person who’s pushing the president to help, right?” said Camerota.

“Well, you know — well, she is,” answered Shaheen. “And I think the good news is that we’ve heard from both Republicans and Democrats who believe that we need to do something to protect the dreamers. And that’s one I’m certainly going to continue to work on.”

Camerota pushed for more of an explanation: “But, again, I’m just confused about why they’re holding Nancy Pelosi at fault here? Do they not like that she’s working with the president on this?”

“Listen, you’ll have to ask them,” said Shaheen. “Who knows who’s stirred up this kind of animosity? What we know about the Russians and their interference in the 2016 elections is that they tried to increase divisions within this country. We saw it again in Charlottesville. So, we don’t know what is behind this. But what we do know is that we need to take action to protect the dreamers, to allow them to stay in America.”

Are the Russians paying actors to pose as radical illegal immigration activists and shut down Democrat press conferences? Are they funding the Immigrant Liberation Movement, or other radical illegal immigration groups?

“That sounds uniquely wacky,” said Tim Graham of the Media Research Center, whose organization monitors left-wing media bias.

“That is a new one,” Graham said, “I don’t know what Jeanne Shaheen ate for breakfast.”

Shaheen was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008, defeating Republican Sen. John Sununu 52-48 percent. From 1997 to 2003 she served as the governor of New Hampshire.

After Shaheen pointed the finger at Russia as the progenitor of the Pelosi protest, Camerota changed the subject.

[lz_related_box id=843373]

“CNN should have responded to that by asking, ‘Are you suggesting the Russians were behind this event?'” Graham said.

Instead, Camerota just nodded and went on.

Also bewildering is Shaheen’s insinuation that Russia had something to do with the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12 and 13, when several groups, including some white supremacists, members of Black Lives Matter, and Antifa, repeatedly clashed, resulting in the death of a young woman and injuries to several others.

No evidence has been publicly presented showing the involvement or backing of Russia or any other foreign country in recent protests in the U.S.

(photo credit, homepage image: Roger H Goun, Flickr; photo credit, article image: Marc Nozell, Flickr)