The Green Party’s candidate for president Jill Stein and her running mate were arrested before last night’s presidential debate in New York.
Stein, a Lexington native, and her running mate, Cheri Honkala, were arrested as they tried to enter the grounds of Hofstra University yesterday. They were not invited to participate.
A video posted on YouTube shows the duo sitting on the ground outside the debate site after they were denied entry. They sat with an American flag on their lap and after they refused to move for police they were led away.
According to Stein’s campaign, she and Honkala were handcuffed to a chair for 8 hours before they were released at 10:30 p.m.
“It was painful but symbolic to be handcuffed for all those hours, because that what the Commission on Presidential Debates has essentially done to American democracy,” Stein said in a statement.
Stein told Metro Boston earlier this year that she considers the odds against her campaign the odds against the American people.
She will participate in four alternative party debates. The first is scheduled for Thursday and will be broadcast online.
Video of the arrest can be seen below:
