SEATTLE, Aug. 10 (UPI) — Hours after a political rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was shut down by Black Lives Matter protesters Saturday, the senator from Vermont announced he hired an African-American woman as his press secretary.
Symone Sanders, the national youth chair of the Coalition on Juvenile Justice, introduced Sanders in Seattle at his biggest event yet. Some 12,000 people attended.
In a 10-minute speech, she spoke on racial tensions and of African-Americans who had died while in custody of law enforcement.
“You know which candidate for president will shut down the private prison industry,” Symone Sanders said. “You know which candidate will have the courage to fight unjust mandatory minimums and the death penalty.”
An earlier political rally in Seattle was shut down when a Black Lives Matter protester leapt on stage.
“We’re shutting this event down — now,” activist Marissa Johnson said.
She said Sanders says that he cares about grassroots movements, but “The biggest grassroots movement in this country right now is Black Lives Matter.”
Sanders responded by posting his stance on racial justice to his website.
“We must pursue policies that transform this country into a nation that affirms the value of its people of color,” the post said.
As president, Sanders said he would address physical, political, legal and economic violence waged against racial minorities. He said he would reform the criminal justice system and decried physical violence against African-Americans “perpetrated by the state.”
“The chants are growing louder. People are angry and they have a right to be angry,” the post read. “We should not fool ourselves into thinking that this violence only affects those whose names have appeared on TV or in the newspaper.”
At Saturday’s Seattle rally, Symone Sanders said she believes Black Lives Matters protests at the senator’s events would stop once people learned more about his platform.
“I think some people haven’t heard it yet,” she said. “They haven’t received it yet. But I think they will hear it and they will receive it.”
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