South Bay Officials Interrupt Kamala Harris With Ceasefire Demands
Santa Clara County Office of Education President, Maimona Afzal Berta, and board member, Raeena Lari, were among several protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Their protest interrupted a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” event on January 29, 20024 at Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose where Vice President Kamala Harris was speaking.
John Pelissero, a senior scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said elected officials have an obligation to model good citizen behavior.
“One way to look at that is you get to protest, as citizens get to protest. On the other hand, if you’re an elected official, while you might not agree with all the policies of the Biden administration, shouldn’t you demonstrate that you will respect and tolerate what the speaker has to say?” Pelissero told San José Spotlight. “If you’re an elected official and you’re giving a speech, don’t you want those in the audience to allow you to give that speech?”
Pelissero noted that students will see the actions taken by board members and said it’s important to demonstrate how to protest effectively and fairly.
John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by San Jose Spotlight.
DNC_VPOTUS_NARAL Howard, Washington DC (cropped) by The Democratic Party/Flickr used under CC BY 2.0 DEED.