California State Sen.Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, a Jewish Democrat who is running for the congressional seat long held by Nancy Pelosi, said Monday that Gaza activists who surrounded him at the city's Trans March crossed the line from protest into intimidation."This went beyond free speech," Wiener told CBS News' Major Garrett on his podcast "The Takeout."Wiener was confronted Friday in Dolores Park while trying to attend a trans-led Pride Shabbat service before the Trans March, an event he said he had attended every year since its 2004 launch.
Video aired by CBS showed activists screaming and cursing at the longtime LGBTQ advocate over Gaza as he walked away."You’ve been wonderful for trans people, and you’ve been terrible," one protester said."You’ve been terrible at Gaza."PRO-ISRAEL DEMOCRAT CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR HECKLED AT TRANS MARCH OVER GAZA, ‘WE F---ING HATE YOU’California state Sen.
Scott Wiener said protesters surrounded him at Dolores Park while he was trying to attend a trans-led Pride Shabbat during San Francisco Pride Weekend.(Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images)CBS News’ Major Garrett asked Wiener whether the confrontation was protected First Amendment speech or something menacing."People will challenge my views.
We’ll have conversations.People will sometimes record me.
And that’s all fine," Wiener said."That’s all protected First Amendment speech."Wiener said Friday's confrontation was different because protesters ran toward him, surrounded him, and made physical contact with him."A few of them touched me, and they were, you know, screaming at me while they were doing it and trying to bully me and intimidate me out of the park," Wiener said."I decided just to keep walking through and out of the park because if I stayed in the park, I was fearful for my own safety."HUNDREDS OF RABBIS DEMAND MAMDANI APOLOGIZE FOR PUTTING 'TARGET' ON AMERICAN JEWS WITH AIPAC 'MONSTER' REMARKSProtesters at San Francisco’s Trans March confronted Wi...