Black Lives Matter disrupts Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders town hall

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A town hall for liberal activists featuring two Democratic presidential candidates was interrupted by dozens of demonstrators on Saturday who shouted down the contenders and demanded they address criminal justice issues and police brutality.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders planned to attend a public sit-down interview with journalist Jose Antonio Vargas in front of a left-leaning crowd here at the annual Netroots Nation conference, a gathering of progressives, when the tone of the program shifted just a few minutes into the event.

O'Malley was answering questions from Vargas on stage when dozens of boisterous conference attendees flooded through a side door and shouted down the White House contender.

"What side are you on my people?" they sang in unison as they approached.

Tia Oso of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, who represented the demonstrators, climbed onto the stage, secured a microphone, and delivered a speech while O'Malley looked on.

"We are going to hold this space. We are going to acknowledge the names of black women who have died in police custody. And Governor O'Malley, we do have questions for you ... As the leader of this nation, will you advance a racial justice agenda that will dismantle -- not reform, not make progress -- but will begin to dismantle structural racism in the United States?"

"Yes," O'Malley replied, but before he could say more, the demonstrators in front of the stage shouted over him by reciting names of black women who have died in police custody. While they shouted, O'Malley stood in silence. At one point he turned to Oso on stage: "My people came here as immigrants from Ireland."

"Black lives matter! Black lives matter!" they shouted toward O'Malley, and began a call-and-repeat rallying cry that activists have been using in the wake of the death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland, who died in police custody last week. "If I die in police in custody!" one of the chants went, "Burn everything down! That's the only way mother******* like you listen!"
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Video at the link

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/bernie-sanders-netroots-nation-black-lives-matter/
 
What do you want us to say?

"We are going to hold this space. We are going to acknowledge the names of black women who have died in police custody. And Governor O'Malley, we do have questions for you ... As the leader of this nation, will you advance a racial justice agenda that will dismantle -- not reform, not make progress -- but will begin to dismantle structural racism in the United States?"

"Yes," O'Malley replied, but before he could say more, the demonstrators in front of the stage shouted over him by reciting names of black women who have died in police custody.
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Dumbasses protesting in the wrong way don't deserve positive attention.
 
Yeah, that's the way to get your message across, hijack a public forum that probably would've been more then happy to address your issue (and probably agree with you) if it was brought up in a civilized manner.
 
Wreav said:
What do you want us to say?



Dumbasses protesting in the wrong way don't deserve positive attention.
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They don't want them to "say", they want them to "do". I mean, it's not like this issue is relatively new. It's been around since this country was formed.
 
Relativ9 said:
Yeah, that's the way to get your message across, hijack a public forum that probably would've been more then happy to address your issue (and probably agree with you) if it was brought up in a civilized manner.
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Yup. Bunch of morons that just want to outscream
 
blackflag said:
I thouhgt it was at the Netroots conference and Warren was there and said exactly what needed to be said.
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This is exactly what happened, while Bernie mostly flubbed the whole thing by then canceling a bunch of his meetings afterwards. Really disappointing.
 
This was just terrible. posted about this in the other thread.

They should have kicked all these people out.

This # stuff is just getting silly.
 
(I am not a Bernie Sanders supporter/stan/whatever. I like him but that's it)

Aimless rage with no interest in actual solutions or policy. As I said in the other thread Bernie Sanders has spent 50 years fighting for civil rights, criminal justice reforms, fair housing policies, loan reforms, education reforms, jobs programs, etc. In what world do these issues not benefit black people? We're not talking about a rising tide raises all boats approach: if you stop sending people to jail for drug possession, a bunch of black and Hispanic people benefit.

The actual question she asked struck me as half assed. Since when do presidents control police departments? Yes a criminal justice reform package can include money for states to hire panels that watch/document police atrocities...but ultimately a state would have to approve such a panel. The feds can provide money for body cams, but the state or city would more than likely have to demand police wear it.

Validation is important. Symbols are important. But don't tell me saying someone's name is more meaningful than actual policies aimed at economic empowerment and criminal justice. Let's see this and other movements take this fight to states. Elect prosecutors who aren't pieces of shit, for one. What would have happened in Baltimore if Mosby wasn't there? Probably the same thing that happened in Ferguson: a prosecutor with heavy police bias doing his or her best to shitcan a case.
 
They should have watched this before taking over his time to speak.

He's been on the right side of these issues since before most of them were born.
 
Of all the people to protest why Sanders? He was there during the Civil Rights Era organizing protests against segregation and the unfair treatment of black people. He marched on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr. He's been fighting for equality since he was in high school and college.
 
Netherscourge said:
I guess the protesters didn't get the memo that the candidates at this town hall were actually on their side?
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And this is the fundamental disconnect between white and black liberals. O'Malley's reforms are the types of policy that invariably lead to black people getting arrested for the smallest things and a police force that is taught to basically go into black neighborhoods and tear shit up. Bernie Sanders' belief that economic policy trumps everything else is why so many well-meaning liberal policies that address one aspect of life while completely ignoring race result in black people falling way behind everyone else. So sure, we may share the same stance on a lot of things but if you want to keep advocating for "colorblind" policy, all that does is ignore the elephant in the room that black people (and other minorities) have had to deal with for generations in this country. What good is increasing the minimum wage if the people hiring are throwing away job applications because someone's name is "too ethnic"? Why does it matter that the big banks are broken up if they're still giving unfair loans to non-white people? In Bernie's case, he supports a vast majority of the stuff that I support but I also have to live in a country where systemic racism is the norm and where simply changing policy is just putting a band-aid on the problem.

GaimeGuy said:
Of all the people to protest why Sanders? He was there during the Civil Rights Era organizing protests against segregation and the unfair treatment of black people. He marched on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr. He's been fighting for equality since he was in high school and college.
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As someone on twitter said, it's great that he was marching during the civil rights movement but people want to know where he was this year when unarmed black people were getting killed by the police.
 
Wreav said:
You start by disrupting those who hold the oppressive viewpoint, not your allies.
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Not exactly sure I'd call Martin O'Malley an ally to black people in America. Sanders, sure, fair point. I thought you had an issue with their actual method of protesting instead of who they were protesting, my mistake.
 
jmood88 said:
As someone on twitter said, it's great that he was marching during the civil rights movement but people want to know where he was this year when unarmed black people were getting killed by the police.
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Doing his job as a Senator from Vermont? He hadn't even announced when any of the noteworthy deaths happened and if even if he had, he would be in no position to actually do anything.
 
jmood88 said:
And this is the fundamental disconnect between white and black liberals. O'Malley's reforms are the types of policy that invariably lead to black people getting arrested for the smallest things and a police force that is taught to basically go into black neighborhoods and tear shit up. Bernie Sanders' belief that economic policy trumps everything else is why so many well-meaning liberal policies that address one aspect of life while completely ignoring race result in black people falling way behind everyone else. So sure, we may share the same stance on a lot of things but if you want to keep advocating for "colorblind" policy, all that does is ignore the elephant in the room that black people (and other minorities) have had to deal with for generations in this country. What good is increasing the minimum wage if the people hiring are throwing away job applications because someone's name is "too ethnic"? Why does it matter that the big banks are broken up if they're still giving unfair loans to non-white people? In Bernie's case, he supports a vast majority of the stuff that I support but I also have to live in a country where systemic racism is the norm and where simply changing policy is just putting a band-aid on the problem.
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Great post.
 
GaimeGuy said:
Of all the people to protest why Sanders? He was there during the Civil Rights Era organizing protests against segregation and the unfair treatment of black people. He marched on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr. He's been fighting for equality since he was in high school and college.
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My guess would be that of all presidential candidates running, Bernie Sanders would be the most open to listening to the Black Lives Matter movement.

They could protest at some GOP rallies, but would they get through to anyone there?
 
jmood88 said:
As someone on twitter said, it's great that he was marching during the civil rights movement but people want to know where he was this year when unarmed black people were getting killed by the police.
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I'm confused with this statement. Are you saying his lack of voice means he doesn't care? He's championed equality for a long, long time (before either of us were born). His presence has been declining in his old age. He's like a geyser: shoots up once in a while. Don't expect '90's Bernie anymore.
 
jmood88 said:
And this is the fundamental disconnect between white and black liberals. O'Malley's reforms are the types of policy that invariably lead to black people getting arrested for the smallest things and a police force that is taught to basically go into black neighborhoods and tear shit up. Bernie Sanders' belief that economic policy trumps everything else is why so many well-meaning liberal policies that address one aspect of life while completely ignoring race result in black people falling way behind everyone else. So sure, we may share the same stance on a lot of things but if you want to keep advocating for "colorblind" policy, all that does is ignore the elephant in the room that black people (and other minorities) have had to deal with for generations in this country. What good is increasing the minimum wage if the people hiring are throwing away job applications because someone's name is "too ethnic"? Why does it matter that the big banks are broken up if they're still giving unfair loans to non-white people? In Bernie's case, he supports a vast majority of the stuff that I support but I also have to live in a country where systemic racism is the norm and where simply changing policy is just putting a band-aid on the problem.



As someone on twitter said, it's great that he was marching during the civil rights movement but people want to know where he was this year when unarmed black people were getting killed by the police.
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Awesomeness
 
collige said:
Doing his job as a Senator from Vermont? He hadn't even announced when any of the noteworthy deaths happened and if even if he had, he would be in no position to actually do anything.
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It's not simply a matter of having to go out and march, it's talking about why it's continuing to be a problem. It takes no massive effort for him to put out a statement.

Subpar Spatula said:
I'm confused with this statement. Are you saying his lack of voice means he doesn't care? He's championed equality for a long, long time (before either of us were born). His presence has been declining in his old age. He's like a geyser: shoots up once in a while. Don't expect '90's Bernie anymore.
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What I'm saying is that marching in the 60's doesn't shield him from criticism for not speaking about racial issues in 2015.
 
jmood88 said:
And this is the fundamental disconnect between white and black liberals. O'Malley's reforms are the types of policy that invariably lead to black people getting arrested for the smallest things and a police force that is taught to basically go into black neighborhoods and tear shit up. Bernie Sanders' belief that economic policy trumps everything else is why so many well-meaning liberal policies that address one aspect of life while completely ignoring race result in black people falling way behind everyone else. So sure, we may share the same stance on a lot of things but if you want to keep advocating for "colorblind" policy, all that does is ignore the elephant in the room that black people (and other minorities) have had to deal with for generations in this country. What good is increasing the minimum wage if the people hiring are throwing away job applications because someone's name is "too ethnic"? Why does it matter that the big banks are broken up if they're still giving unfair loans to non-white people? In Bernie's case, he supports a vast majority of the stuff that I support but I also have to live in a country where systemic racism is the norm and where simply changing policy is just putting a band-aid on the problem.



As someone on twitter said, it's great that he was marching during the civil rights movement but people want to know where he was this year when unarmed black people were getting killed by the police.
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tell 'em
 
I am still waiting for "the right way to protest" that has worked so well for black Americans to be treated equally and not be targeted by our police force.

Still waiting.
 
jmood88 said:
It's not simply a matter of having to go out and march, it's talking about why it's continuing to be a problem. It takes no massive effort for him to put out a statement.
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A statement which could have been spun as him trying to score political points. No win situation.

Sanders doesn't need to tweet or send out a statement every time something happens. He's been completely consistent on these issues. Why doubt him now?
 
jmood88 said:
It's not simply a matter of having to go out and march, it's talking about why it's continuing to be a problem. It takes no massive effort for him to put out a statement.
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Here you go

Maybe find out if someone actually released a statement or introduced legislation before you shit on them for doing nothing.
 
This is good stuff. Radicals and leftists putting the pressure on liberals always puts a smile on my face. Hopefully folks keep at it.
 
jmood88 said:
As someone on twitter said, it's great that he was marching during the civil rights movement but people want to know where he was this year when unarmed black people were getting killed by the police.
Click to expand...
I've watched only one Bernie Sanders rally this year and in it he addressed minority issues. Seems like a Hillary echo chamber has developed.
 
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