Sean Spicer was harassed by a woman who has accused him of committing “treason” and working for a “fascist” like Donald Trump . According to the NY Post , Shree Chauhan accosted the White House Spokesman in an Apple Store over the weekend.
The encounter which was captured on video had Chauhan who is of Indian-descent later accusing Spicer of making a racist statement when he responded to her saying America is “a great country, that allows you to be here.”
The 33-year-old woman in an elongated article published on Sunday on Medium , revealing that she was not the type to play the racism tag on a whim. Shree Chauhan pointed out that she watched the video with Spicer repeatedly and is convinced that the spokesman statement had racist implications.
“How does it feel to work for a fascist?” @SeanSpicer is confronted while he shops in an Apple store in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/bSPRIeycnT
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) March 13, 2017
“Unlike this administration, I do not believe in ‘alternative facts’. I believe in facts. I do not believe in accusing someone of this level of racism, when if in fact it was not…I watched the video over and over again. And his words were clear…’Such a great country that allows you to be here.’ That is racism and it is an implied threat.”
The 33-year-old woman, who lives in Washington D.C., posted the viral video on Periscope and was in the Apple Store to get her iPhone fixed. According to her, she spotted the 45-year-old White House spokesman making a purchase and felt the dire need to “speak truth to power.”
Shree argued that she did not feel she was harassing the spokesman, adding that because of the commotion Spicer and President Trump were causing in the country, they did not deserve any entitlement to privacy.
“It is customary to give public figures their space. However, given what Mr. Spicer and his boss are doing to this country, I do not believe they are entitled to these norms and customs.”
Shree who describes herself as an “eternal optimist” is seen querying Sean Spicer in the video, asking him what it feels like to work for a “fascist” and if he played a part in the “Russia stuff.” Shree continues to attack Spicer asking if he is guilty of treason and prodding him over what he knows over the happenings in Russia. This led Spicer who was initially trying to ignore her, eventually making the statement, which she allegedly deemed “racist.”
The Washington D.C. resident in her published post revealed that she was stunned by the boldness of Spicer’s statement, arguing that she was an American citizen and not an illegal.
“I am still stunned by the boldness of having my citizenship threatened on camera. I was not polite. But when does being impolite mean that I should be thrown out of the United States of America? The country I was born in, the country I was raised in, the country I love despite its flaws.”
Shree Chauhan, 33, told Spicer, “You work for a fascist” https://t.co/PjcvLN3bA7
— Thus Spake (@thus_spake) March 13, 2017
According to the BBC, Chauhan who is a founder of an education start-up said she was taken aback by Spicer’s statement because he knew he was being recorded, but he still went ahead to make such a controversial statement. Ms. Chauhan who defended her actions on Twitter, argued she jumped at the chance to approach Spicer without his protective detail around. In addition, she said she took the drastic step because the “Nazis weren’t stopped with niceties.”
Some critics, who slammed her on the social media platform, said she was overacting to a harmless statement, alluding that the White House Spokesman was referring to the right to free speech protected in America by the First Amendment. However, the 33-year-old woman refuted the interpretation, adding that the White House Spokesman meant more than that.
Chauhan, a daughter of immigrants, pointed out that ever since Trump assumed presidential office, she had been afraid for her life. The 33-year-old woman also painted a bleak picture of what had been happening to Indians, stamping it as an issue of serious concern.
Earlier this month, a Seattle resident of Sikh heritage was shot by a man who purportedly told him to return to his country before he fired his gun. A few weeks prior, a Navy veteran shot two Indian engineers.
[Featured Image by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images]