Dreamer Hits Back at People Sending Her Online Threats

ASU student Belén Sisa came to the United States with her parents when she was six years old. She is protected under the DACA program and is allowed to live, study, and work in the United States. On Sunday she posted a selfie with a tax form on Instagram. She wanted to show that there are millions of immigrants who work hard and pay taxes and don’t get anything back from the system, as they are not eligible for benefits or unemployment.

Belen interned in our Phoenix office. I’m proud to see her dispelling myths about immigrants & defending #Dreamers https://t.co/ktKginIxDK

— Ruben Gallego (@RepRubenGallego) March 28, 2017

But the post resulted in a ton of hate messages on social media; people called her derogatory names, said they had reported her to ICE and that she would be deported, and claimed that she is a criminal. Someone even photoshopped a disturbing picture of her decapitated, with Trump throwing her head over a wall. But she hit back at the harassers by Instagramming pictures of their messages, with their social media names fully visible. “Those messages were to instill fear and ensure we wouldn’t fight back, but it made me do the complete opposite,” she said.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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President Donald Trump made his first visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. After a morning tour of the museum, which opened last September, Trump spoke about the need to “fight bigotry and hatred and intolerance.” He decried the divisions that exist in America and, after weeks of prodding from lawmakers and Jewish leaders, denounced the spate of bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers across the country since the election.

After his tour, which he said was “a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry and hatred and intolerance,” Trump gave a brief speech. “Today and every day of my presidency I pledge to do everything I can to continue that promise of freedom for African-Americans and for every American,” he said, flanked by his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development nominee Ben Carson–whose life is captured in an exhibit at the museum–and Carson’s wife.

“We’re going to bring this country together. We have a divided country that’s been divided for many, many years, but we’re going to bring it together,” Trump added. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and his aide (and former “Apprentice” contestant) Omarosa Manigault also accompanied Trump to the museum. Rep. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) was also there. Trump, it seemed, sought to add legitimacy to his remarks by surrounding himself with black aides and lawmakers.

But what Trump has said, and did not say, during the campaign and his presidency regarding the black community has drawn criticism. At speeches and rallies, in stadiums packed primarily with white supporters, Trump was fond of painting inner cities as dens of violence and decay that only afflict black people. Most recently, at a lengthy press conference last week, Trump asked April Ryan, a White House reporter who is black, if she is “friends” with the Congressional Black Caucus. After Ryan asked if Trump would meet with the CBC, he replied: “Do you want to set up the meeting?”

During Trump’s visit to the museum, a line of dump trucks was deployed on Constitution Avenue, as an extra layer of security:

Dump trucks stand guard outside the museum on Tuesday. Image courtesy of Anja Poradzisz.

Law enforcement agencies have employed similar tactics in the past, both for Trump and previous presidents. On Election Day, for instance, the New York Police Department placed 10 Sanitation Department trucks in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan, where Trump was staying. This barrier is a response to the increased threat of truck attacks, which have been used by Islamic State sympathizers in Nice, France, and Berlin.

In 1970, in response to anti-Vietnam War protests, President Richard Nixon’s staff deployed a similar security tactic. Nixon’s advisers decided to surround the White House with school buses. “To me, it’s different looking at a bus than it is looking at a cordon of SWAT-clad policemen, which to me invites a confrontation,” said Egil Krogh, a Nixon adviser who helped devise the bus buffer. “You have to provide the protection, but you do it in a way that is the least provocative, and likely to [provoke] an attack.”

In his remarks, Trump responded to the rise in reported anti-Semitic incidents since the election–just last week, 100 headstones were vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis. Leaders of Jewish groups and many lawmakers have been calling for Trump to forcefully respond in recent weeks. On Tuesday, he called the incidents “horrible and painful and a very sad reminder of the work that must still be done to root out hate and prejudice.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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