Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kyrstjen Nielsen defended her chief on Sunday amid rising accusations that President Trump’s fiery rhetoric inspired Cesar Sayoc to allegedly send mail bombs to a number of prominent members of the Democratic Party, Fox News informed.
“There is no place for hate in this country,” she said. “Hate is hate, violence is violence.”
Sayoc was detained on Friday for allegedly sending at least 13 mail bombs to prominent Democrats. The former stripper and fervent Trump supporter was identified after Justice Department officials found DNA and a fingerprint found on an envelope that helped the probe.
FBI officials have not revealed a motive, although Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested politics may have been involved in the case, noting that Sayoc appeared to be a “partisan.”
Several hours after his arrest, Donald Trump accused the media of making up stories about him and his supporters.
“We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,” Trump told supporters at a rally in North Carolina on Friday.
Nielsen lamented the rising partisan discord across the country that has led to instances of violence – like the mail bombs and last summer’s shooting at a congressional baseball practice — and public disruptions and protesters.
Nielsen herself had to cut short a working dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Washington in June after protesters shouted, “Shame!” until she left. The day before protesters gathered outside Nielsen’s Virginia townhouse, chanting “no justice, no sleep” and playing recordings of immigrant children crying.
“There is a line,” Nielsen said. “When those choose to use the First Amendment to incite violence, to incite disruption, rather than being constructive, to have conversations that instead tear Americans apart, I do not support that.”
“There is an appropriate way to express your solutions, to express your ideas. I welcome them at all times, but these calls to violence, these calls to disruption, are not effective, not productive and frankly they just contribute to additional deconstruction of our ability to work together,” she added.
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