California congresswoman and political agitator Maxine Waters can’t seem to stay out of the headlines these days, but this one may take the cake.
The judge in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial criticized Waters’ recent inciteful comments, saying her words could be grounds for the defense to appeal a verdict.
In case you aren’t familiar with the comments, during a protest in Brooklyn Center over the weekend, Waters encouraged people to “take to the streets” if Derek Chauvin is not found guilty of murder, as reported by Human Events News.
“We’re looking for a guilty verdict,” Waters said. “And we’re looking to see if all of the talk that took place and has been taking place after they saw what happened to George Floyd, if nothing does not happen, then we know that we’ve got to not only stay in the street, but we’ve got to fight for justice. But I am very hopeful, and I hope we are going to get a verdict that says ‘guilty, guilty, guilty.’ If we don’t, we cannot go away.”
Asked in a follow-up question what protesters should do if Chauvin is not convicted of murder, Waters said, “we’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure they know we mean business.”
Chauvin’s attorney requested the judge declare a mistrial over the comments, arguing she had prejudiced the jury.
While Judge Peter Cahill denied the request, he said that Waters’ comments were “abhorrent” and she may have handed the defense an opportunity to overturn the trial.
“I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” Cahill said as arguments concluded Monday and the jury began deliberating.
Following her comments, republicans called for Waters to be sanctioned, though that is unlikely because of the team-left majority.
“No, I don’t think she should apologize,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday. “Maxine talked about ‘confrontation’ in the manner of the civil rights movement.”
Unfortunately for Maxine, agitation does not always result in gratification. This time, her comments may boomerang back to haunt her in the worst way possible.
