'Black Lives Matter' protesters flummox O'Malley, Sanders

PHOENIX — When Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders took the stage at Saturday’s Netroots Nation forum here in Arizona, things didn’t go exactly as planned.

Both Democratic presidential candidates were supposed to sit down with activist and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas to talk about immigration. Instead, they got shouted down.


O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, was up first, and his forum was hijacked by protesters who said they were from the “Black Lives Matter” movement. They moved toward the stage, chanting, “What side are you on? Black people! What side are you on?”

Two of the activists climbed onto the stage and seized the microphones as O’Malley and Vargas stood by patiently.

“It’s not like we like shutting shit down but we have to,” activist Patrisse Cullors said. “We are tired of being interrupted.”

But shutting things down is what they did.

O’Malley was repeatedly drowned out by chanting protesters who wanted to discuss police brutality against black Americans. When O’Malley finally did get a chance to respond, they kept shouting.

“I believe every police department in America should have to report in an open and transparent way all police-involved shootings, all discourtesy complaints, all brutality complaints,” O’Malley, a former Baltimore mayor, said. Asked by Vargas about civilian review boards, O’Malley added, “all departments should have civilian review boards.”

That was roughly as specific as the protesters allowed O’Malley to get. He went on to say, awkwardly, “black lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter,” sparking loud boos.

O’Malley repeated the phrase and the audience kept booing. Vargas tried to quiet the crowd down, but time was up anyway.

“Unfortunately, Senator Sanders is waiting out there,” Vargas said.

“We just started,” O’Malley quipped.

It started off well: Sanders supporters waved “Bernie” signs in the air as the independent Vermont senator took the stage, hoping to talk about economic policy and bash Republicans.

He got chaos instead.

“Here’s the serious issue: We live in a nation in which to a significant degree media is controlled by large multinational corporations. We live in a nation in which 95 percent of talk radio is right wing, including in areas where Republicans have almost no support,” Sanders began.

The protesters kept shouting, forcing Sanders to address their concerns.

“When we talk about issues like ‘black lives matter,’ let me tell you something,” Sanders said. “A study came out a few weeks ago talking about youth unemployment in America, an issue we do not deal with as a nation. And here’s what, here’s what that said. What that report said is that if you are a high school graduate and you’re white, the unemployment rate is 33 percent. If you are Hispanic, the unemployment rate is 36 percent; if you are African-American, the unemployment rate is 51 percent. And in my view maybe, just maybe, it is time we invest in jobs and education not in jails and incarceration.”

The protesters began shouting again when Sanders tried to pivot back to discussing Wall Street greed and economic inequality. At one point, Sanders offered a deviation from his usual talking points: “Black people are dying in this country because we have a criminal justice system that is out of control,” he said.

Vargas tried to pepper the Vermont senator with immigration questions, but the chants once again threatened to drown them out. At one point, Sanders’ frustration showed. “Black lives of course matter, but I have spent 50 years of my life fighting for civil rights and if you don’t want me to be here that’s OK,” he said.

Once again, time ran out and Vargas said, “Unfortunately we have to wrap it up.”

“OK, good,” Sanders said.