Rough stuff? Rival accuses Nasheed of harassing workers
From her start as a community activist — some would say agitator — State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed has never been one to back down from a fight. (Just ask the police officers who dragged her off the MetroLink tracks during a protest a few years ago.)
But now her re-election opponent is claiming Nasheed has gone too far.
Kim Gardner, competing against Nasheed in the Democratic primary next month, has accused her rival of “‘Jim Crow era’ intimidation tactics.”
In a release sent out to several local media outlets, Gardner says that on Tuesday Nasheed approached her neighborhood canvassers in a “physically threatening manner and verbally berated them.”
When her campaign workers attempted to walk away, Gardner says, Nasheed “pursued them with continued insults.”
“I will not be bullied or intimidated by anyone including Rep. Nasheed.” said Gardner, 32, who works as an assistant prosecutor for Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce. “I want to stop this before it escalates beyond threatening gestures and words.”
Nasheed, for her part, does not deny having a “candid conversation” with Gardner supporters she crossed while knocking on doors this week.
But threats? Intimidation?
“That’s not me at all,” Nasheed says. “I only represent my constituents.”
Gardner, Nashed said, is a “nice girl” who, she claims, has resorted to desperation tactics to unseat an incumbent.
“She’s going to lose the race,” Nasheed said. “She’s trying to do anything possible to dilute my support.”
We live in a digital age. Gardner or anyone else who makes accusations like this need to provide evidence for this kind of claim. I personally don’t think “Political Fix” should even post stuff like this because it would so easy to manufacture a story.