One of the protestors who heckled Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as she dined in a Mexican restaurant last week has been revealed to be an employee of the Department of Justice.
The Daily Caller was able to confirm the identity of the individual this week in a new report.
Allison Hrabar, a paralegal in the Justice Department, was one of a handful of activists from the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America who descended upon Nielsen as she dined at MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a popular restaurant near the White House, on June 20.
The ordeal was posted online, and the video shows Nielsen in the back of the restaurant attempting to ignore the activists’ chants before ultimately leaving.
“If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace!”
Activists with the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America crashed @SecNielsen's dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., and heckled her over the Trump administration’s 'zero-tolerance' immigration policy. pic.twitter.com/rdb1nu9Trs
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 21, 2018
Hrabar, in an interview with the Washington Examiner, defended her decision to participate in the demonstration, confirming that it was not during government time and saying that she had every right to exercise her First Amendment privilege.
“If you see these people in public, you should remind them that they shouldn’t have peace,” she said. “We aren’t the only ones who can do this. Anyone who sees Kirstjen Nielsen at dinner, anyone who sees anyone who works at DHS and ICE at dinner can confront them like this, and that’s what we hope this will inspire people to do.”
Hrabar has been employed at the DOJ since July 2016.
When asked for a comment, the Justice Department declined to remark on Hrabar’s actions.
The demonstration was a product of the growing unrest over the handling of thousands of undocumented immigrant children currently detained in various camps along the southern border with Mexico.
In previous weeks, the Trump Administration had doubled-down on its position that a policy of separating children from their parents was not of their doing, and that only Congress could pass the necessary legislation to change the situation.
“We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period,” Nielsen said in a June 17 tweet.
We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.
— Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) June 17, 2018
“Congress can fix these problems. Instead of criticizing those of us who uphold our oaths by enforcing the laws Congress drafted, work with us to change them. There will be legislation in the House this week that will address this issue and close the loopholes. Let’s solve it,” she said a day later.
Congress can fix these problems. Instead of criticizing those of us who uphold our oaths by enforcing the laws Congress drafted, work with us to change them. There will be legislation in the House this week that will address this issue and close the loopholes. Let’s solve it.
— Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) June 18, 2018
On June 20, the President signed an executive order that sought to solve the family separation policy.
“We are keeping families together and this will solve that problem. At the time we are keeping a very powerful border and it continues to be a zero tolerance, we have zero tolerance for people that enter our country illegally,” Trump said during the signing of the new legislation.
