Sunday night, Allegheny County Council member Bethany Hallam tweeted "Never burned a police car myself! But F--- yeah, let's riot against fascism."
Hallam explained to KDKA Radio's Marty Griffin why she published the tweet. "First of all, I have never burned a police car despite the person who tweeted the initial tweet at me wanted to claim and second of all, because yes - I think that we should fighting and rioting against any for of fascism and a major sign of fascism is not counting every vote which is what this rally is about, making sure that every single vote is counted," she said. "And if it's not we should riot because that means the fall of a free an fair democracy."
When asked to respond to the idea that as an elected official, her words could actually incite a riot, Hallam said "Oh, I don't think that there's any inciting of a riot, but I think that what's goin to happen is we are going to take to the streets and we are going to protest to make sure that every single vote is counted in this election."
When pressed further on her use of the word "riot," Hallam clarified that she told Marty, "I suppose you and I may have different definitions of a riot. I want to take over the streets and make sure that we shut down the streets until every single vote is counted. If you call that a riot, then that's your interpretation but that's not... when I say riot, I don't mean violence. I don't mean any destruction."
Despite Marty's clarification to Hallam on the definition of riot, she said she doesn't regret using the word in her tweet. "I don't think I regret what I said because I don't think that my meaning behind the word is the same as what yours is, but I do think that there should be a massive disruption if every vote is not counted.
"I don't think there should be any violence. I never think there should be any violence. I don't think there should be the violence that we've seen at the hands of police officers who have been violent to our communities and the communities that I represent. And I will never stand for violence from the police, just as I never stand for violence from anybody."
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Marty asked Hallam to describe what is fascist about current events. "Oh my gosh," she exclaimed. "I think there's a lot of things that are going on that is a form of fascism. I think the way that the person who is sitting in the White House right now has taken control of the media. I think the way that he has denounced any sort of local journalism as 'fake news.' I think the fall of free and fair elections is a form of fascism as well."
Hallam said she believes there's a need to disrupt everyday lives if it means to raise awareness for the need of free and fair elections in this country.