Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton wants to crackdown on the next ‘Hamas sympathiser Aaron Bushnell’
US Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) has unveiled two new pieces of legislation aimed at restricting security clearances and demonstration rights for pro-Palestinian government workers and contractors, following the self-immolation of US airman Aaron Bushnell outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on February 25th.
The announcement was made on Thursday in a statement posted to Cotton’s website, in which he suggested the actions of Bushnell and others who rallied in his memory as sympathetic with ‘terrorists’ and Palestinian armed resistance group Hamas.
Sen. Cotton said “anyone who supports Hamas or any other terrorist group should not receive a security clearance”, adding that active-duty military personnel should not be permitted to engage in protests deemed to threaten US national security or its allies such as Israel.
The first bill, titled the “No Clearances for Terrorist Sympathizers Act,” seeks to revoke or deny security clearances to individuals found to express support for foreign terrorist organizations, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps designated as such by the US government.
The second bill, the “Prohibiting Certain Off Post Protests Act,” would formally codify a ban preventing certain military members from participating in ‘off-base’ demonstrations.
The day before, Cotton introduced the Stop Pro-Terrorist Riots Now Act, in which he characterised pro-Palestinian protests taking place around the United States as ‘anti-Semitic pro-Hamas riots’. The legislation would increase the punishments for rioting and provide mandatory sentences for anyone committing violence as part of a riot. [Continue reading…]