Angry activist gets in Ted Cruz's face at Houston restaurant over guns, gets restrained and dragged out. He smiled in photo with Cruz before ambushing him.
An angry activist got in U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's face at a Houston restaurant after his address Friday at the National Rifle Association convention; the activist had to be restrained before he was dragged out of the establishment.
What are the details?
The activist asked the Texas Republican for a photo, and the two were smiling and arm in arm:
But the activist — identified by Insider as Benjamin Hernandez — quickly turned the photo op into an ambush and lit into Cruz over Tuesday's massacre of students and teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas:
Hernandez asked Cruz to talk to him about "background checks," kept speaking when the senator tried to answer, and after Cruz finally was able to say "background checks wouldn't have stopped the shooter," Hernandez got more animated, waving his hands in the air as he said with a raised voice, "We can make it harder for people to get guns in this country!"
Cruz told the activist "you combine ignorance with hatred," and "you don't know what you're talking about." Soon a few men who appeared to be security stepped between Cruz and Hernandez; but the activist began to resist and lunge forward as they slowly dragged him from the eatery.
It's quite a thing to see how close angry people can get to an elected official like Cruz, especially in times like these. One wonders if Democratic senators like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer would have minded such treatment from a conservative.
As he was dragged away, Hernandez hollered, "Why did you speak tonight? Why did you come here to the convention to take blood money? Why, when 19 children died? Nineteen children died! That's on your hands! That's on your hands!"
Here's the clip:
\u201c#BREAKING: Several hours after #NRAconvention, Indivisible Houston board member @TheBenjaminHdz challenges Ted Cruz to support background checks & other measures during a dinner break at Uptown Sushi.\n#TedCruzHasBloodOnHisHands #TedCruzChildMassacre #TedCruzLovesDeadKids\u201d— Indivisible Houston (@Indivisible Houston) 1653712416
The activist speaks
Hernandez — an independent who ran for Congress in 2018 — is a board member of Indivisible Houston, a political advocacy group, which posted the Twitter video of him confronting Cruz, Insider reported.
Hernandez told the outlet he was in the restaurant when he saw Cruz walk in and added that he asked Cruz if he would pose for a photo after the senator finished his dinner — but Cruz got up right away.
"As a constituent, you know, he refuses to allow us to engage him in open public forums. So this is one of the ways we can reach him," Hernandez told the outlet. "I'd never done anything like this before."
Hernandez added to Insider, "In that moment, I'm like, 'I have to do this because there are people that are really suffering.' And if it takes ... making Ted Cruz uncomfortable while he's having dinner, I mean, that's just the price of it."
The activist also told the outlet that while confronting Cruz, he was thinking of the parents of the slain children, as well as his own child.
"I'm a new father. I have a child. This hits different. Like, I just want to know what are you doing as a senator? And what things can you support?" Hernandez told Insider. "I'm like, 'Can you just answer the question? Like, where do you stand? What do you bring to the table?"
Hernandez added to the outlet that if politicians continue to avoid action on mass shootings, "we have to confront them."
"The moment is now," Hernandez told Insider. "They're always gonna say, 'Now is not the time'... But you know what, it is the time. Now is the time to stop the next one."
The outlet said a Cruz spokesperson on Saturday didn't immediately respond its request for comment and that an automated message from Cruz's senate office said his voicemail was full.
Remember when?
This wasn't the first time Cruz felt the left's wrath in a restaurant. In September 2018 a leftist mob made headlines by harassing Cruz and his wife in a Washington, D.C., restaurant. Afterward a left-wing group posted video of the incident with a chilling promise to Cruz, then-President Donald Trump, then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and “right-wing scum” in general: “You are not safe. We will find you.”
Ah, but it was the season of such behavior, as other conservative figures were kicked out of restaurants and heckled and even punched. Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife were accosted at a restaurant, too, but other patrons stood up for the couple.
Some might conclude that U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters of California got the ball rollling in June 2018 by infamously ranting to supporters to “create a crowd” and “push back on” members of Trump’s cabinet if they’re seen “in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station.” She added in her speech — fueled by anger over Trump's immigration stances — “You tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
\u201cMaxine Waters calls for attacks on Trump administration: "If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they\u2019re not welcome anymore, anywhere."\u201d— Ryan Saavedra (@Ryan Saavedra) 1529871853
Abbott drops out of NRA convention, will go to Uvalde instead
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will no longer appear in person at the National Rifle Association's convention in Houston on Friday and will instead travel to Uvalde, where a deranged gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers earlier this week. Instead, the governor will give a pre-recorded address, a spokesman for his campaign said.
"Gov. Abbott will be delivering remarks via prerecorded video to the NRA Conference," Abbott campaign spokesman Mark Miner said in a statement. "He will be going to Uvalde today."
Abbott was one of several prominent Republican officials scheduled to attend the conference, along with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former President Donald Trump. His decision to back out of the event follows widespread criticism of Republican officials and the NRA by Democrats for opposing gun control legislation after an 18-year-old gunman bought two rifles legally and then used them to commit a massacre at Robb Elementary School.
At a press conference on the mass shooting Wednesday, Abbott's Democratic opponent in the upcoming election, Beto O'Rourke, heckled the governor and accused him of "doing nothing" to prevent future mass shootings. Earlier that day, O'Rourke called on Abbott to "immediately withdraw from this weekend’s NRA convention and urge them to hold it anywhere but Texas."
Some other high-profile figures have dropped out of the convention, including singers Larry Gatlin and Don McLean. Gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, the company that made the rifle used in the shooting, has also pulled out of the NRA's event.
Trump said Wednesday that he still plans on addressing the convention in person.
"America needs real solutions and real leadership in this moment, not politicians and partisanship," the former president wrote on his social media website Truth Social. "That's why I will keep my longtime commitment to speak in Texas at the NRA Convention and deliver an important address to America. In the meantime, we all continue to pray for the victims, their families, and for our entire nation – we are all in this together."
On Wednesday, the NRA issued a statement expressing its "deepest sympathies" for the families of the victims of "this horrific and evil crime."
“Although an investigation is underway and facts are still emerging, we recognize this was the act of a lone, deranged criminal,” the NRA said. “As we gather in Houston, we will reflect on these events, pray for the victims, recognize our patriotic members, and pledge to redouble our commitment to making our schools secure.”
Anti-gun leftist Bette Midler ripped as 'massively irresponsible' for telling people to 'come armed' to possible NRA convention protest
Anti-gun leftist entertainer Bette Midler took to Twitter on Wednesday and told people to "come armed" to a possible protest at the National Rife Association's convention in Houston this weekend.
Midler's suggestion came on the heels of a mass killing at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this week, and was among a flurry of tweets and replies the far-left actress and singer posted on the social media platform.
\u201cAT THE GEORGE R BROWN CONVENTION CENTER IN HOUSTON TEXAS, THIS WEEKEND. Come armed.\u201d— bettemidler (@bettemidler) 1653496249
While the NRA said convention attendees can carry guns, they cannot be armed inside the General Assembly Hall for Friday's Leadership Forum, as former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak and the Secret Service is in charge at that time.
How did folks react to Midler's shoot-from-the-hip tweet?
Midler — who's been nothing if not politically and socially outspoken of late — received some backlash for telling people to "come armed" to the potential protest:
- One commenter remarked, "19 children and 2 adults just died from gun violence yesterday, and you're cracking a joke about 'come armed'? ... at least I HOPE it's a joke."
- "She's gonna get people killed," another user said. "Massively irresponsible."
- "No, no, no. Don't do this. Don't go armed and don't listen to her suggestion to act like it's Jan 6. This is the wrong take," another commenter reacted.
- "Oh my gosh, Bette. Don’t act like a Republican!!!" another user said. "It’s so unbecoming."
- "If someone does show up and shoots at people at this convention, I hope the police arrest you for this tweet," another commenter told Midler.
- "Calling for more gun violence at the NRA convention doesn’t help us heal over the shootings. You are calling for more innocent people to be victims," another use wrote. "This doesn’t do anything to get us united. NRA teaches how to use guns properly & store them properly."
Anything else?
Houston is bracing for a number of protests related to the NRA convention, including planned actions from Moms Demand Action, Youth for Beto, and the Houston chapter of Black Lives Matter, according to Bloomberg.
"American Pie" singer-songwriter Don McLean pulled out of a scheduled performance at the convention due to Tuesday's mass killing, USA Today said.
"In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week," McLean said in a statement to the paper. "I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans."
In addition, Daniel Defense — the manufacturer of the gun used in the Uvalde massacre — on Wednesday withdrew from the convention.
www.theblaze.com
www.theblaze.com
thefederalist.com