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'Squad' member Ayanna Pressley slammed after she calls for unrest over threats to USPS: 'This is pure evil'

There was no indication in Pressley's remarks whether she necessarily meant anything other than peaceful protests

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a well-known member of the progressive "squad", has reportedly fuelled anger among conservatives by calling for "unrest in the streets". The Massachusetts Representative, while speaking on August 15, Saturday's edition of AM Joy on MSNBC, said that she wanted protests, which have been sparked by concern over changes to the country's postal service, to keep going.

Pressley, while speaking to guest host Tiffany Cross, said: "I'm looking to the public. This is as much about public outcry and organizing and mobilizing and applying pressure so that this GOP-led Senate and these governors that continue to carry water for this administration, putting the American people in harm's way, turning a deaf ear to the needs of our families and our communities — hold them accountable."

"Make the phone calls, send the emails, show up," she said. "You know, there needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there's unrest in our lives." Pressley was talking about the controversy surrounding Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The Congressman also asked for DeJoy to resign for "corruption" amidst an ongoing investigation launched against him by the USPS Inspector General. The probe was initiated last week after a group of eight Senate Democrats, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, demanded an investigation onto the changes DeJoy has made in an effort to slow mail delivery.

Democrats have accused Trump of deliberately attempting to hamper the postal service in an effort to disenfranchise mail-in voting for the 2020 presidential election. The Republican, ever since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, has been claiming that mail-in voting could lead to massive electoral fraud. Republicans have also backed the claims, without any evidence.

Shortly after Pressley made the remarks on Saturday, August 15, multiple conservatives took to Twitter to slam the Congresswoman's remarks as "unhinged," "disgusting," and "horrible." There was no indication in Pressley's remarks whether she necessarily meant anything other than peaceful protest.

One of Trump's ardent followers, Sebastian Gorka, who served as an adviser to the Republican, said: "Never give in to the Mob." While, Drew Berquist, a conservative commentator, said that the Congresswoman was fanning "violence and insurrection."

"The Squad wants violence & insurrection to fight back against supposed 'oppression' in the most free country on the planet where they're allowed to voice their opinions, attack the president and riot on a nightly basis...without consequence. The irony," Berquist wrote.

A right-wing blogger, Matt Walsh, called Pressley's remarks "pure evil." He wrote: "While neighborhoods burn, business owners lose everything, people die at the hands of looters and rioters, communities are destroyed, Ayanna Pressley, from her comfortable and safe perch, explicitly encourages more 'unrest.' This is pure evil."

The Congresswoman's statements came amid months of protests and unrest in the country against police brutality and systemic racism. Protesters, on August 15, also gathered outside DeJoy's home amid corruption claims.

Although there was outrage on Twitter by conservatives, Trump, in 2016, had also suggested that there would be "riots" if he was not given the Republican nomination. "I think you’d have riots. I think you’d have riots. I’m representing a tremendous many, many millions of people...I think bad things would happen, I really do... I wouldn’t lead it but I think bad things would happen," Trump had said in March, 2016.