US activists disrupt Democrat's speech
SEATTLE— Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was shoved aside by several activists and eventually left a Saturday afternoon event in Seattle without giving his speech.
Sanders, a longshot challenger to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton, was just starting to address several thousand people gathered shoulder to shoulder when two women took over the microphone. Organizers couldn't persuade the two to wait and agreed to give them a few minutes.
As Sanders stepped back, the women spoke about Ferguson, Missouri, where unarmed black teen Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer one year ago, touching off a national debate about police treatment of minorities and sparking what's now called the Black Lives Matter movement. They then held a four minute moment of silence.
When the crowd asked the activists to allow Sanders to speak, one activist called the crowd "white supremacist liberals," according to event participants.
After waiting about 20 minutes, Sanders himself was pushed away when he tried to take the microphone back. Instead, he waved goodbye, left the stage with a raised fist salute and waded into the crowd. He shook hands and posed for photos with supporters for about 15 minutes, and then left.
The rally at Westlake Park was organized as a birthday celebration for Social security, Medicare and Medicaid.
It's not the first time that Black Lives Matter activists disrupted an event held by the Vermont senator.
At a town hall for Democratic presidential candidates in Phoenix last month, protesters affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement took over the stage and disrupted an interview with Sanders and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley.
In his campaign, Sanders has gained a following among liberals by championing issues like climate change and criminal justice reform. In addition to advocating a $15an-hour minimum wage and raising taxes on the rich, Sanders also supports a massive government-led jobs program to fix roads and bridges, expanding federal pension benefits and making college debt-free.