Protester wearing Black Lives Matter shirt seizes microphone at event for African-American Buttigieg supporters

Jeff Parrott | South Bend Tribune

Show Caption Hide Caption Buttigieg, black pastor discuss racism, poverty As he labors to win over black voters, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg found a receptive host on Sunday in the Rev. William Barber, who is calling for a racially diverse national campaign against poverty. (Dec. 2)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – African-American leaders gathered Wednesday night to counter what they said was a national media narrative that Mayor Pete Buttigieg has little support from black city residents. They talked about Buttigieg programs aimed at helping neighborhoods, and they relayed stories of their positive experiences with his administration during his two terms as mayor.

But it didn’t take long for lingering divisions in the city to surface. Protesters from Black Lives Matter South Bend frequently interrupted the event as they stood in the back of a room at the Charles Martin Youth Center, holding signs and yelling things to contradict the speakers throughout the nearly hourlong program. They interjected comments about police, the homeless and poverty.

About 10 minutes into the event, one of the protesters grabbed the cordless microphone from speaker Sharon McBride, a city council member who recently campaigned for Buttigieg in South Carolina, prompting a woman to come after him with her cane raised in the air.

"Where are the black leaders who don’t have three-piece suits, leather jackets, and nice jewelry?" the protester shouted before seizing the microphone in video of the event. "Who chose these people as black leaders?"

The protester, a man wearing a "Black Lives Matter South Bend" shirt, decried the gathering to "talk about Pete Buttigieg" when "people are having a crisis because of police violence."

"This is a farce!" he yelled repeatedly after others managed to restrain him and rip the microphone from his hand. He was allowed to remain in the room for the rest of the event.

"One thing you will not do with me is run me out of here," McBride told the protesters when she got the microphone back.

The man appeared to shove event organizer Gladys Muhammad during the ruckus.

"I’m OK, it’s OK," Muhammad, who manages the center, told The Tribune afterward. "They could have paid for the center and had a Black Lives Matter meeting, too. I can deal with it."

Buttigieg, who was not at the event, told NBC News the incident was an "unfortunate" example of the political "climate that we're in."

"It shows kind of where politics has come to, especially for somebody to interrupt an African-American woman who was speaking about her truth and in her experience," Buttigieg said.

Marisol Samayoa, a spokeswoman for the Buttigieg campaign, said the event was not organized by the campaign. And city council member Karen White, who kicked off the event, said it was not meant as a political endorsement.

But the Buttigieg campaign had issued a news release promoting the event, and at least nine staffers attended, including campaign manager Mike Schmuhl.

While Buttigieg has surged to the top of the polls in Iowa and near the top in New Hampshire, his campaign has struggled to win the support of black voters nationally, as well as those polled in South Carolina and Nevada, two early primary states with more diverse populations.

News media reports and Buttigieg's opponents in the Democratic presidential primary have repeatedly focused on his poor showing among African-American voters in polls.

Muhammad, addressing the room at the beginning of Wednesday’s event, said she organized it in reaction to the national coverage.

"One of the things that people kept coming and telling me is that they keep putting in the national media that African-Americans and blacks in South Bend do not support Mayor Pete," she said. "Well, there are plenty of people in the community that do support Mayor Pete and we needed to change that dialogue, and let the people that do support Mayor Pete talk about their personal experiences with him."

In addition to McBride, the speakers included three black pastors, the Rev. Michael Patton, president of the city’s NAACP chapter; the Rev. Hardie Blake; and the Rev. Rickardo Taylor.

"I have been able to experience his leadership, his integrity, and his character as well," Patton said. "I believe he is an innovative leader who has done tremendous work here in South Bend."

Addressing the roughly dozen protesters, McBride said she respected their opinions, "but your experience is not mine."

Contributing: William Cummings, USA TODAY