Congresswoman Brownley staffer has police remove CA Citizen from DC office
By George Miller
A Rep. Julia Brownley (CD-26, CA) Congressional staffer hit the panic button Friday (0930 9-15-17) and called Capitol Police on Arthur Schaper, a well-known SoCal Conservative, in-your-face activist, while he was at the DC office protesting DACA and Brownley’s positions on immigration. While things like this were happening in Washington today, California legislators passed the SB-54 Sanctuary State bill, which Governor Jerry Brown seems prepared to sign.
Brownley Chief of Staff Lenny Young later described her to us as a young low level staffer “who just sits at the front desk and answers the phone”, “was overwhelmed” by the tense encounter and “felt intimidated” by Schaper. However her business card says that she is the Office Manager/Scheduler.
Activist Arthur Schaper in DC on 9-15-17. Source: Schaper youtube frame grab
Schaper told CitizensJournal.us that he went to Brownley’s Capitol Hill office to protest DACA and illegal immigration. When he engaged with a staffer, he says that she was very rude to him, cut him off, called him a bigot, racist, tried to hurry him out of the office, insulted him, then ran out of the office and down the hall to bring in the Capitol Police to remove him and lied to police about what happened, based on what they told him.
Young (who said he was not on the scene) told us on the phone that Schaper was asked by the staffer to leave, but refused to and that standard procedure is not for staff to force the issue, but to engage Capitol Police, who he said are very adept at handling such situations.
Schaper told us that he left the office after she went for the Capitol Police. He said that 5 officers showed up within two minutes (including Adam Taylor- Badge # 3216 and Chad Hall- Badge # 1691). He says that they detained him for about 15 minutes, in the hall by the security scanner, interrogated him, made accusations and demanded ID, which he said he refused to provide, relying upon a Supreme Court precedent. He said that they told him that he was accused of physically threatening the staffer, making racist remarks and refused to leave when asked.
When we asked about witnesses or recordings, Schaper told us that he had no one with him and that he was not allowed to record there. We don’t know if there are office surveillance videos.
Regardless of what the staffer said, how Schaper heard it or what the Capitol Police’s perceptions were, Young said to us unequivocally: “no racist remarks were made,” nor was this mentioned in Brownley’s statement on the incident (below). However, left wingers often interpret any advocacy of immigration law enforcement or even mention of ethnicity as “racism.” Schaper told us he said to the staffer that “blacks are being killed by illegal aliens.”
“there were no racist remarks.”- Brownley Chief of staff Lenny Young
Mr. Young seemed to us to be embarrassed by the incident, by the staffers’ behavior and a little resentful of Mr. Schaper baiting the naive young staffer. He felt it is being blown out of proportion. He said that Schaper is very large and intimidating to her, very much in disagreement and she didn’t know how to handle it.
However, the official Brownley statement received later took a harder line:
Hi, George,
Congresswoman Julia BrownleyMy colleague passed along your message to me.Here is a statement from Congresswoman Brownley:“The individual, who is not a constituent, badgered my staff, intimidated them, and made them feel extremely uncomfortable. When he was respectfully asked to leave, he refused. The Capitol Police, who are more experienced with individuals like this, were asked to deal with the situation. After the Capitol Police spoke to him, I believe he voluntarily left the building. While everyone has a right to their opinion, I also believe everyone has a right to work in a safe environment free of harassment and intimidation. This certainly applies to my staff, and to all of the hardworking Congressional staff who spend every day helping constituents in districts both in D.C. and across the country.”Samantha Greene
Communications Director | Congresswoman Julia Brownley, CA-26
1019 Longworth HOB | Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5811 | Fax: (202) 225-1100
~~~~~
Schaper made this youtube video to communicate his version of the incident:
We ask you not to direct your comments to the staffer mentioned in the video, but to Ms. Brownley and senior staff instead, who have the power to set policy. Mr. Young said that he has asked Schaper to take down the video or at least delete specific references to the staffer.
We have not yet received the police report on the incident.
From a CD-26 Brownley political opponent, Republican candidate Jeff Burum
We asked what the opinion of the Burum campaign was on all of this. A summary of their response follows:
- Government works for people, not the other way around. Brownley staff should have heard Mr. Schaper out , asked him about his specific concerns, presented Brownley’s positions, discussed differences and determined if there might be any accommodation (doesn’t sound like this occurred).
- If, after doing all this, it was finally determined that the person was just making noise and disruption, had no intention of a real dialogue, only repeating the same items over and over again and not engaging, then it would be justified to end the conversation, terminate the meeting and if they don’t leave, ask them to politely. If they still don’t leave, then the Burum campaign agrees that calling the Capitol Police would be the best approach. But they didn’t believe that the criteria had been met, based on what they have heard.
- Staffers should be ready to handle tough customers. Brownley’s statement that this was unacceptable harassment seems a stretch. If low level staffers are routinely used as a “palace guard” to keep the public away from policy-makers, then drive people out when disagreement is encountered, then Citizen frustration is understandable.
- Regarding DACA- it is an illegal, unconstitutional executive order- it was right for President Trump to rescind it in the phased approach that was announced, and refer it to Congress- the ONLY legitimate legislative body of the U.S. federal government. We are receptive to some accommodation IF border security and internal immigration law are enforced. We want LEGAL immigrants to come in on a merit basis, when it is in the best interest of AMERICANS – and security, jobs, and economic considerations are addressed.
Analysis
Passions are running very high over the immigration issue. One side wants a very Liberal admission policy- some say “open borders”- allowing unlimited, generous entry and granting of many or all of the benefits of Citizenship. Others want immigration laws enforced stringently, to improve safety, employment opportunities, wages and government spending. Still others would split the difference.
President Donald Trump terminated DACA, as promised, but 7 months late and with a phased soft-landing. He properly labeled it as an unconstitutional executive order and called upon Congress to legislate how they want to handle it. Bills are now being crafted, discussed and amended.
Schaper, associates and other groups on both sides have been wandering around Capitol hIll visiting elected officials and staff on both sides of the aisle, to make their cases, to help shape perceptions and affect negotiations.
It is clear that Rep. Brownley, who represents most of the people in the Ventura County CitizensJournal.us coverage area and has a 10% Heritage and Freedom Index voting record, tends toward the open borders side of the immigration issue. Unlike some Congressional reps, in our experience, she has always been honest and clear about her positions and why she holds them. Keep in mind that CD-26 is a heavily Latino district, with many foreign-born or children of foreign-born here. There are thousands of illegal aliens and (formerly) DACA-eligible people here. But there are also lots who disagree with her approach, including lots of Latinos who identify more as American stakeholders.
Schaper has taken a confrontational approach, to gain mindshare and maybe move the needle. Brownley’s office was seemingly not well-prepared to accommodate this approach. However to claim that Schaper’s approach was harassment and intimidation may be a bit much. This is her national headquarters, so shouldn’t her staff should be selected, trained and prepared to be capable of handling strong opinions? As far as Schaper making “them” feel extremely uncomfortable,” how about the staffer’s remarks to/treatment of a Citizen who pays her salary? Yes, Schaper is not a district constituent, but is a Citizen, is affected by her decisions and does pay her salary, in part.
Schaper is a knowledgeable, committed Conservative and follower of politics. While he wants to believe in the system and has tried to work in it, he sees that it is ineffectual. His words to us tonight: “being polite just doesn’t work.” However he is perceived as rude and intimidating. He sees that he is getting more traction, ink and airtime with a confrontational approach, while following the system only results in being locked out of it. How can we change that? People on all sides of the political prism are similarly frustrated.
To better understand his motivations, we asked Mr. Schaper just what his views on immigration are and he responded in writing thusly:
Whether President Trump is playing games with the Democrats or making a bad for Republicans, there should be no amnesty of any kind.After confronting illegal immigration and its negative consequences for the past two years—including the brazen lawlessness and entitled arrogance of some of the illegal aliens, especially the DACA recipients—I am absolutely committed to stopping amnesty of any kind.There can be no DACA deals or offers of legal status to anyone who entered our country or who resides in our country unlawfully. The United States has already provided a pathway to citizenship in our government code. Men and women who want to enter this country must follow that pathway already laid out for all immigrants.Those who have broken into this country are law-breakers. The circumstances of their children having been brought into this country is not a consideration which the American government or the nation’s citizenry must take into account.For those who consider clear-cut enforcement cruel or unfair, we are not the ones separating families, for we did not put the young illegals—now all grown adults—into this tough position. The United States has been a generous, welcoming country, but that international reputation has been taken advantage of, and now it’s time for our government to put Americans first. That move includes enforcing the immigration laws on our books.Besides, these “young illegals” are no longer little children, but some are violent adults who are intent on undermining the United States country and culture, especially in the Los Angeles area where I live. Some young illegal aliens want to turn California into Aztlan or “return” the land to Mexico. These fantasies are unrealistic and dangerous—and we should not allow one more illegal to skirt the just consequences for their—or their parents’—criminal acts.To quote former US Senator Rick Santorum, who addressed a young illegal in a CNN town hall: “You have been blessed by this country. Go and make the world a better place. Return to your home country and come back legally.”Arthur Christopher Schaper is a blogger, writer, and commentator on topics both timeless and timely; political, cultural, and eternal. A life-long Southern California resident, Arthur currently lives in Torrance. Follow his blogs at The State of the Union and As He Is, So Are We Ministries.
Twitter: @ArthurCSchaper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arthurchristopher.schaper
Email: ArthurSchaper@hotmail.com
~~~
Mr Schaper also had a conversation w/Rep Maxine Waters in her office. The two already knew each other. See his summary of it on his youtube channel.
George Miller is Publisher/Co-Founder of CitizensJournal.us and a “retired” operations management consultant residing in Oxnard.
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