Ayanna Pressley denounces tying Boston Marathon bomber to prisoner voting rights issue

Democratic Massachusetts  Rep. Ayanna Pressley is admonishing “pundits” who have attached Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev to the push by White House hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders and others to give voting rights to convicts, the Boston Globe is reporting.

The question unfolded when a student at Harvard University asked Sanders about his thoughts on allowing convicts “like the Boston Marathon bomber” to vote.

“I think the right to vote is inherent in our democracy — yes, even for terrible people,” Sanders responded. “Because once you start chipping away, you say, ‘Well, that guy committed a terrible crime, not going to let him vote,’ or, ‘That person did that, not going to let that person vote.’ You’re running down a slippery slope. So I believe that people commit crimes, they pay the price. When they get out of jail, I believe they certainly should have the right to vote.”

But in a series of tweets issued Thursday, Pressley said it is wrong to attach a tragedy and disaster such as the Boston Marathon bombing to an issue as critical as voting rights.

Pundits, if you want to talk about re-enfranchising folks let’s talk. Did you know in my state there wasn’t a law on the books that explicitly banned those incarcerated from voting until 2001? That law was a fearful response to those on the inside at MCI Norfolk ORGANIZING.

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) April 25, 2019

Pressley was referring to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Norfolk, Mass., and reports that inmates were organizing to form a political action committee.

Pressley also made reference to having a loved one in and out of prison and understanding the issue acutely, and also tweeted,

Don’t dare invoke one of the darkest days of terrorism in MY city to stoke fear and derail a meaningful conversation about fundamental rights & what justice looks like for the 1000s of black & brown folks who are stripped of their liberty & civic participation for minor offenses.

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) April 25, 2019

Tsarnaev has been sentenced to death in the April 2013 incident that killed three people, including.