Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders returned to the issue of police brutality against African Americans on Saturday, after their appearances at a presidential forum at Netroots Nation in Phoenix were disrupted by angry protesters.
O’Malley apologised for his remarks in answer to the protesters, while Sanders told a crowd of 11,000 in the Arizona city: “Freedom doesn’t come without a struggle.”
On Saturday morning, O’Malley was forced to leave the stage and Sanders’ appearance was cut short after activists took the stage, made statements, asked questions, chanted and heckled.
O’Malley was booed – and heavily criticised on social media and by pressure groups – after he responded to the interruptions by repeating: “Black lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter.”
He apologised on Twitter and in conversation with This Week in Blackness.
He apologised again at a later Netroots event on immigration, another issue pursued by protesters at the forum. The earlier event was moderated by film-maker Jose Antonio Vargas, who is an undocumented migrant.
“I meant no insensitivity by that and I apologise if that’s what I communicated,” the former Maryland governor said. “That was misstated. What I intended to say was that we’re all in this together, that black lives do matter and we have a double-standard of justice in this country.”
Sanders fared better with the protesters in the morning, at one point telling them: “Black lives of course matter. I spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights and dignity, but if you don’t want me to be here, that’s OK. I don’t want to out-scream people.”
Later, the independent Vermont senator attracted another large crowd, the largest of his presidential campaign so far.
“When a police officer breaks the law, that officer must be held accountable,” he said.
Sanders went on to quote the 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass, saying: “Freedom doesn’t come without struggle.”
#blacklivesmatter. The voices of this impt movement are loud & clear. I'm committed to continuing this conversation. https://t.co/P9C5cpM2mx
— Martin O'Malley (@MartinOMalley) July 18, 2015
Sanders and O’Malley lag a long way behind frontrunner Hillary Clinton in polls regarding the Democratic nomination for president in 2016.
On Sunday, the Real Clear Politics poll average showed Clinton at 56.8%. Sanders was second with 16.3%, ahead of Vice-President Joe Biden – who has not declared a run for the White House – at 11.5%. O’Malley, with 0.8%, trailed the former navy secretary and Virginia senator Jim Webb (1.3%) but was in front of the former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, who had 0.3%.
Crowds turning out to hear Sanders have been increasing. At such rallies and in media appearances, the self-professed democratic socialist, a former mayor of Burlington, Vermont, has called repeatedly for “a political revolution”. Sanders has taken aim at, among other targets, a biased media, political parties in thrall to corporate interests and a broken criminal justice system.
On Saturday he told the Phoenix crowd: “We need to stand together to make a political revolution where we create an America that works for all of us.
“Enough is enough – the billionaires are not going to have it. It’s our country. Let’s create that nation!”
The following day, the hashtag #BernieSoBlack was trending – and causing strenuous debate – on Twitter.
