‘This Is Free Speech’: Mom Confronts Sheila Jackson Lee At Hearing On CRT

Democratic Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and a mom got in a heated back-and-forth during a Tuesday hearing on discrimination and Critical Race Theory.

Witness Asra Normani was recording Lee during the hearing when Lee demanded Normani cease filming.

“We are problem solvers. We are grateful that the courts have responded to perceived discrimination but in any event what I would clearly say – you need to put down your camera,” Lee, who is clearly distracted by Normani, said. “Please, you need to put down your camera. You need to put down your camera.”

Normani, who is seen wearing a “I’m a Mom, not a ‘domestic terrorist'” shirt while holding her phone to record Lee, appears to question Lee.

“Why do I have to put down my camera?” Normani asked. (RELATED: DC Public School Administrators Ousted After Voicing Concern Over ‘Racist,’ ‘Discriminatory’ Programming, Lawsuit Alleges)

“Because I’m already on video so I don’t need to be on yours.”

“I mean, this is free speech,” Normani said as she continued filming.

Lee is then consulted by an individual before saying she’s “asked respectfully and you choose not to be respectful and so I will allow you to continue on. Thank you so very much.”

“But in any event, I believe that this hearing deals with the impact of discrimination on the groups that have suffered discrimination in such a large way,” Lee continued. “I’m disappointed that CRT has been politicized to attack people who simply want to ensure that our children have an opportunity to be engaged in diversity.”

Lee then accused “right-wing media” of mutilating her words and acting in bad faith in their representation of Lee’s comments.

Normani later tweeted about the incident, noting she was simply there to testify “on the racism of critical race theory.”

“Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee disparaged us as political. I started filming my evidence, juxtaposed with her denials,” Normani tweeted. ‘You need to put down your camera,’ she said in a subcommittee on the constitution.”

Today @DevonWesthill + I testified sincerely on the racism of critical race theory. Rep Sheila Jackson Lee disparaged us as political. I started filming my evidence, juxtaposed with her denials. “You need to put down your camera,” she said in a subcommittee on the constitution 🤦🏻‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/kthyIRFlqn

— Asra Q. Nomani 🐻 (@AsraNomani) March 2, 2022

During her testimony, Normani questioned the digression of Critical Race Theory, which she called “divisive.”

“How did we go from this ideology of Critical Race Theory that says we must look at all of society through the lens of race and then become this, ‘How To Be An Antiracist,’ in which this ideologue says that we can only correct past discrimination by present discrimination. What kind of country is this? This is not the kind of country my father came to,” Normani, who is from India, testified while displaying several books on Critical Race Theory.

Normani also testified that her son was the victim of racism because he was not the “right” minority and that other students who were not the “right” shade of “brown” were facing discrimination as a result of Critical Race Theory.