Bubble burst, ‘Bernie or bust’ folks eye exit

PHILADELPHIA — Protesters loyal to Bernie Sanders signaled their intent to leave the Democratic Party after front-runner Hillary Clinton on Tuesday won the presidential nomination.

Cries of “Nah, nah, nah, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye,” went up from demonstrators near the Wells Fargo Center, after party delegates made Clinton the first woman nominee for president of a major political party.

And moments after Clinton officially won the nomination, a large group of Sanders supporters left the convention hall in Philadelphia to hold a sit-in protest at a nearby tent for journalists.

Some supporters had their mouths taped shut. A few others sang “This land is our land” and held a banner that read, “We The People.”

They said they wanted to protest being shut out by the Democratic Party.

Earlier, unmoved by Sanders’ plea for party unity, protesters chanted “Bernie or bust!” as they marched under the hot sun.

They held a midday rally at City Hall, then made their way down Broad Street to the convention site. By early evening, a large crowd had formed outside the subway station closest to the Wells Fargo Center as the delegates inside the hall were on the verge of nominating Clinton for president.

The crowd consisted of an assortment of protesters espousing a variety of causes but mostly Sanders supporters and other Clinton foes on the left.

Some gathered around a radio to hear what was happening inside the hall, and when Clinton’s name was placed in nomination, a chant of “Nominate Sanders!” went up. Some went off to watch the roll call on a couple of big screens.

Protesters said they weren’t swayed by Sanders’ Monday night plea to his supporters to fall in line behind Clinton for the good of the country.

“He persuaded no one to vote for Hillary,” said Greg Gregg, a retired 69-year-old nurse from Salem, Ore. He said he intends to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

The bitterness between the Vermont senator’s supporters and Clinton’s seemed to grow worse over the past few days after a trove of hacked emails showed that officials at the Democratic National Committee played favorites during the primaries and worked to undermine Sanders’ campaign.

Black Men for Bernie founder Bruce Carter said Monday’s speeches from Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren did not persuade him to support Clinton.

“They really agitate people more every time they stand up and do the Hillary Clinton, hoo-rah hoo-rah,” he said. Carter, a Dallas resident, said he doesn’t fear a Donald Trump presidency: “I’ve lived under nine white presidents in my lifetime.”

In a separate protest, against police brutality and racial injustice, about 500 people marched down Broad Street to City Hall.