Sen. Bernie Sanders thinks you can expect the Republican candidates squaring off at the first official debate of the 2016 presidential campaign to have the same focus-the needs of the wealthy. However, that was short-lived as two members of “Black Lives Matter” shut down the rally before Sen.
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Bernie Sanders left before giving an anticipated speech in Seattle when the event was disrupted by activists claiming to be affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, who took over the stage, the Seattle Times reports.
Organizers of the protests had to declare the event over as a result of the protestors.
Sanders has made efforts to address issues important to black voters since the Netroots protest. We need millions of people coming together to take on the corporate interests and the billionaire class who have so much power today.
“No President”, he said, “will fight harder to end the stain of racism in this country and reform our criminal justice system”.
This is the second event featuring Sanders that Black Lives Matter protesters have disrupted.
Mr. Sanders, Vermont independent and self-described socialist, quickly pivoted to his differences with Mrs. Clinton, the party’s front-runner for the White House.
Moments after Sanders took the stage at Westlake Park, two women and one man climbed the stage and confronted the Democratic presidential candidate, demanding a chance to speak. Willaford and another co-founder of the Seattle chapter of Black Lives Matter took over the microphone just after Sanders began to speak and refused to relinquish it. Sanders eventually left the stage without speaking further and instead waded into the crowd to greet supporters. They demanded that the crowd hold Sanders “accountable”. Both the senator and his fellow Democratic presidential hopeful Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley were interrupted by Black Lives Matters protesters at a Netroots Nation event in Phoenix last month.
“Thank you for being one of most progressive cities in America”, Sanders had told the crowd before the disruption.
Brown’s death had galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement.
When asked if the website change came in response to yesterday’s interruption, Sanders’ communication director Michael Briggs said the new racial justice platform “was already in the works”.
We had about 150 people for the event – filling up the largest room in the building! He later posted this press release on his website.
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“You’re going to have ten candidates more or less talking about your needs and not the needs of working people”, Sanders told SiriusXM’s Progress Channel.
