Over the weekend, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna held a town hall in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, where controversy erupted after a speaker openly praised a convicted cop-killer currently on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. City Council Member Ce-Ce Gerlach praised Assata Shakur – who is on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List for murdering a NJ State Trooper – calling her a “freedom fighter.” Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, was convicted of murdering New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973 and later escaped prison, fleeing to communist Cuba where she remains a fugitive.
“In the words of freedom fighter Assata Shakur, ‘It is our duty to fight for our freedom, it is our duty to win, we must love and protect one another. We’ve got nothing to lose but our chains,” Gerlach said during the town hall.
Khanna didn’t object to Gerlach’s remarks, and neither did Lamont McClure or Carol Obando-Derstine—the Democrats vying for the PA-07 nomination to face Republican Ryan Mackenzie—as both have remained silent and refused to denounce the comments.
However, it should come as no surprise because McClure and Obando-Derstine campaign on the same agenda.
McClure has taken a staunch anti-law enforcement stance, pushing policies that hinder cooperation between local authorities and ICE, putting Pennsylvania families and law enforcement officers at greater risk.
Meanwhile, Obando-Derstine is the handpicked candidate of Susan Wild, who has a long anti-ICE and anti-police record.
This isn’t the first time McClure and Obando-Derstine have aligned themselves with a radical anti-ICE, anti-law enforcement agenda. Just weeks ago at another Pennsylvania town hall, a speaker shouted “f**k ICE” during a rally with socialist Bernie Sanders—and was met with applause.
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"Pennsylvania Democrats' support for terrorists and cop killers isn't just insane, it's outright dangerous. This agenda is exactly what Carol Obando-Derstine and Lamont McClure would fight for in Congress, and it's a threat to Pennsylvania families," NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said.
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