‘Meant to intimidate’: Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin slams bogus police raid as crackdown on peace activism

Peace activist Medea Benjamin slammed a recent police raid on her home after she was accused of “assaulting” a Democratic congresswoman, calling it an act of “intimidation” against those opposing US interventionist policies.

Over a dozen officers from the US Capitol Police surrounded Benjamin’s home on Wednesday, alleging the activist assaulted Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Florida) at a press conference earlier that day, but Benjamin says the charge is phoney.

“This is selective prosecution and it’s bogus,” she told RT, adding “I’m a peace activist, I don’t assault anyone.”

They make up things against us as a way to intimidate not only us, but other people who would want to join us.

To the contrary, Benjamin instead claims she was roughed up by supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido at Wednesday’s presser – at which Wasserman-Schultz launched a congressional “Venezuela Democracy Caucus” to support efforts to remove President Nicolas Maduro from power.

“We were there to say non-intervention in Venezuela, and when we held up our signs every single one of them was grabbed from our hands by these thugs,” she said.

Some 20 minutes after returning home from the event, Benjamin says police showed up at her door in force as if she were “some kind of terrorist,” but the activist refused to cooperate.

“I said ‘where’s the warrant?’ They didn’t have a warrant,” Benjamin continued.

In the end, they didn’t arrest me. I don’t know if that is the end of this, and if they will get a warrant and try to arrest me.

Despite the seemingly permanent fixation by American pundits and pols on “Russian interference,” Benjamin urged for greater attention to Washington’s foreign interventions, noting that the US government pays the salaries of Venezuelan opposition figures, insisting it was time to “stop this kind of interference.”

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