HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston Mayor John Whitmire accused some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators staging outside of his home in recent months of being paid protestors for Iran.
Whitmire made the accusation Wednesday as a discussion dragged on over a law he proposed to keep protestors 200 feet away from targeted homes. He went on to explain he was not certain of the information regarding Iran.
“I’m just going by the advice of Homeland Security, other departments, some higher than city government, that there is a connection to Iran. It’s dangerous if it’s true,” he said.
Nishu Siddique, who has been organizing some of the protests outside Whitmire’s home as a founding member of Houston for Palestinian Liberation, told ABC13 the accusations are not true and that the rhetoric is dangerous.
“This white supremacist belief, this orientalist caricature of people, is cartoonish. It’s silly, and it’s a cop-out,” she said.
The ordinance Whitmire proposed to create a distance from targeted homes was ultimately sent to a council committee for further discussion.
“The children and the seniors in my neighborhood are not fine,” Whitmire stated.
District J Councilmember Edward Pollard countered, “(The protestors will) go 200 feet away, and then they’ll be in front of your neighbors’ homes, which will make the neighbors even more upset.”
Siddique told ABC13 that if the law passes, the group will set up down the block. She said she feels the ordinance is a personal attack from the mayor.
“This is an extension of a personal vendetta he (Whitmire) has against us. There have been several groups that have been doing this for a long time. The anti-John Cornyn protests are a really good example, and up until this point, this has never been an issue,” she said.
Whitmire said other elected officials and groups have approached him about the law but requested anonymity.
“This is not about John Whitmire. You don’t have to worry about me, OK? It’s people that don’t want to be identified: our faith community, our mosques, our imams, our rabbis, our chancellors of our great institutions,” Whitmire said.
Thirteen council members voted in favor of sending the proposed ordinance to a council committee. Three voted no, including Pollard, stating they would prefer to vote it down in session and end the discussion.
“We already have safeguards in place for obstruction or inciting a riot,” Pollard said.
Whitmire said the safeguards in place are not enough. He pointed to other cities, like Dallas, that have passed similar legislation that has held up in court, as several of his colleagues accused him of encroaching on the First Amendment for his own benefit.
“Jim Crow may be abolished. James Crow, Esq. is alive and well,” District F Councilmember Tiffany Thomas said.
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