Is that pretty normal where you live? An unelected government official detaining an elected sitting senator?
The direct answer to your question is yes he should have been treated differently because he’s a senator. DHS is not the end all be all of government regulation. He is essentially one of her bosses.
If a member of an opposition party interrupted a press conference by the minister of justice and security or the head of police or something, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were removed by security, no. However, I wouldn’t expect them to be forced to the ground or handcuffed.
Article 1 of the Dutch constitution states that given equal circumstances people should receive the same treatment. The article goes on to say that discrimination based on things like race, gender religion etc is forbidden. It doesn’t say anything about positions of power in the government, but I feel that generally that shouldn’t affect things either. I’d want security at a press conference to treat me and a member of Parliament the same, if neither of us was supposed to play an actual part in said conference.
I must admit for some reason I thought this guy was in the California state Senate. The fact that he’s a federal politician does change my view slightly.
I’d like to note that it wasn’t Noem or even the DHS that detained him, though. They were FBI agents. It’s possible that she asked them in advance to crack down on any kind of disruption, but it seems hard to pin this specifically on Noem or the DHS.
The senator’s actions were clearly inappropriate. Surely there are more appropriate venues to raise questions with the head of DHS. IMO at least he should have waited until she started taking questions. However, the FBI agents should have realized he was a senator and that roughing him up would be a very bad look for them, and by extension, the Trump administration. It does seem like they were technically within their legal purview to do what they did, though.
I can see why the optics of this are very bad for the FBI and the Trump administration, but at the end of the day, a senator being treated the same way a protester would be when interrupting a press conference, doesn’t seem nearly as outrageous to me as all the other things happening in the USA. Things like the National Guard being mobilized because of a limited number of protesters resorting to vandalism or violence, people being deported to a foreign prison/death camp without due process, ICE running around and rounding people up without wearing recognizable uniforms, or showing ID or warrants, a mayor being arrested under false charges at an ICE facility, African Americans, women, gays and other minorities being erased from history, trans people having their rights trampled, important government institutions being defunded and/or dismantled, students being deported for criticizing Israel, environmental policies being removed, Trump trying to ignore judges, etc, etc…
Political hierarchy in the US is very important for a lot of things. The Netherlands doesnt have states so I know it seems foreign to you but I’ll try to explain without being condescending.
Some basic info to get out of the way first: States are not subject to the federal government in the way you think. If I had to compare it to something imagine the US is the EU and the states are separate countries. Subjects that are not covered under federal law are left for the states to control on their own and the federal government almost never will directly intervene in a situation in a state without that states approval.
With that please understand that Kristi Noem is not “the controlling party”. She is a government employee hired by Donald Trump. She has next to 0 control over what’s going on in California. Government policy for these types of situations is defer to the states laws and provide support as needed. California as directly asked the government to stand down and instead Donald Trump has mobilized the military against the wishes of the people of California.
Imagine if the EU sent their military to quell protests in the Netherlands. Also imagine if a contractor hired by the EU arrested and detained your prime minister IN THE NETHERLANDS while holding a press conference because your prime minister wanted to know why the hell a contractor was directing the EU military to quell a protest on your soil.
I realize the comparisons might not be the best but this situation is absolutely insane and should have never happened. Our government is absolutely over stepping their bounds and are exacerbating the situation.
Is that pretty normal where you live? An unelected government official detaining an elected sitting senator?
The direct answer to your question is yes he should have been treated differently because he’s a senator. DHS is not the end all be all of government regulation. He is essentially one of her bosses.
If a member of an opposition party interrupted a press conference by the minister of justice and security or the head of police or something, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were removed by security, no. However, I wouldn’t expect them to be forced to the ground or handcuffed.
Article 1 of the Dutch constitution states that given equal circumstances people should receive the same treatment. The article goes on to say that discrimination based on things like race, gender religion etc is forbidden. It doesn’t say anything about positions of power in the government, but I feel that generally that shouldn’t affect things either. I’d want security at a press conference to treat me and a member of Parliament the same, if neither of us was supposed to play an actual part in said conference.
I must admit for some reason I thought this guy was in the California state Senate. The fact that he’s a federal politician does change my view slightly.
I’d like to note that it wasn’t Noem or even the DHS that detained him, though. They were FBI agents. It’s possible that she asked them in advance to crack down on any kind of disruption, but it seems hard to pin this specifically on Noem or the DHS.
The senator’s actions were clearly inappropriate. Surely there are more appropriate venues to raise questions with the head of DHS. IMO at least he should have waited until she started taking questions. However, the FBI agents should have realized he was a senator and that roughing him up would be a very bad look for them, and by extension, the Trump administration. It does seem like they were technically within their legal purview to do what they did, though.
I can see why the optics of this are very bad for the FBI and the Trump administration, but at the end of the day, a senator being treated the same way a protester would be when interrupting a press conference, doesn’t seem nearly as outrageous to me as all the other things happening in the USA. Things like the National Guard being mobilized because of a limited number of protesters resorting to vandalism or violence, people being deported to a foreign prison/death camp without due process, ICE running around and rounding people up without wearing recognizable uniforms, or showing ID or warrants, a mayor being arrested under false charges at an ICE facility, African Americans, women, gays and other minorities being erased from history, trans people having their rights trampled, important government institutions being defunded and/or dismantled, students being deported for criticizing Israel, environmental policies being removed, Trump trying to ignore judges, etc, etc…
Political hierarchy in the US is very important for a lot of things. The Netherlands doesnt have states so I know it seems foreign to you but I’ll try to explain without being condescending.
Some basic info to get out of the way first: States are not subject to the federal government in the way you think. If I had to compare it to something imagine the US is the EU and the states are separate countries. Subjects that are not covered under federal law are left for the states to control on their own and the federal government almost never will directly intervene in a situation in a state without that states approval.
With that please understand that Kristi Noem is not “the controlling party”. She is a government employee hired by Donald Trump. She has next to 0 control over what’s going on in California. Government policy for these types of situations is defer to the states laws and provide support as needed. California as directly asked the government to stand down and instead Donald Trump has mobilized the military against the wishes of the people of California.
Imagine if the EU sent their military to quell protests in the Netherlands. Also imagine if a contractor hired by the EU arrested and detained your prime minister IN THE NETHERLANDS while holding a press conference because your prime minister wanted to know why the hell a contractor was directing the EU military to quell a protest on your soil.
I realize the comparisons might not be the best but this situation is absolutely insane and should have never happened. Our government is absolutely over stepping their bounds and are exacerbating the situation.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s