Jonathan Wackrow is a CNN law enforcement analyst and former agent with the US Secret Service, serving in the presidential protection division.
By Jonathan Wackrow
CNN
Over the weekend, Rep. Maxine Waters — a vocal critic of President Donald Trump — directly called for her supporters to publicly confront members of the Trump administration over a “zero-tolerance” policy that separated children from parents who illegally crossed the southern border.
Protest and demonstration is common in our political environment, but the remarks by Waters, a California Democrat, signal not just dissent, they introduce the possibility of direct harassment of government officials — and not just in the public arena but in their private activities as well.
“For these members of his Cabinet who remain and try to defend him, they’re not going to be able to go to a restaurant, to be able to stop at a gas station, to be able to shop at a department store. The people are going to turn on them, they’re going to protest, they’re going to absolutely harass them until they tell the President: ‘No, I can’t hang with you,'” said Waters over the weekend during an interview.
These statements go beyond breaking the norms of civil discourse; they are dangerous, as they can be misinterpreted as a call to physical action or harm against an individual and people who associate with them.
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