Protest exposes security concern for Sanders

WASHINGTON – When angry protesters swarmed the stage and took it over from presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a recent Seattle event, his closest apparent protection were “peacekeeper” volunteers with no professional security training.

Some security professionals are reacting with alarm and disbelief to the video of Sanders abandoning the podium after two women hopped on stage and screamed at him from inches away to turn over the microphone.

The protesters showed no intent to harm the Vermont senator, but they were able to get dangerously close to him and send an inviting message to any would-be attacker looking for a potentially soft target, former Secret Service agents said in interviews.

“Anybody who is interested in making a name for himself or herself, all he has to do is look at this video and say, ‘I’ll show up at the next Sanders’ site, and I’ll make a name for myself,’ which is pretty terrifying,” said Andrew O’Connell, a former agent and federal prosecutor now with Guidepost Solutions, a risk management firm.

James Mottola, a former agent now with Creative Solutions Investigative Services, said the incident exposes the vulnerability of candidates and could demonstrate an opportunity for more protesters — or for people “who want to do harm to him.”

“You don’t always know the intent of the people who show up at your events,” he said.

‘Peacekeepers’

During the protest, Seattle police were about 30 feet from the stage, according to Robby Stern, chairman of the Social Security Works Washington Coalition that sponsored the Westlake Park event to celebrate Social Security and Medicare. The volunteer “peacekeepers,” whom organizers recruited from unions and community-based organizations a week before the event, were the closest security to Sanders that Stern was aware of, he said.

The volunteers were “tough and strong guys” who received a training session that day from another volunteer and who would have responded appropriately had there been a physical threat, Stern said. In retrospect, he said, it would have been better to have had more peacekeepers with more training.

“Obviously, our security was inadequate for the situation, and I take responsibility for that,” Stern said. “We have certainly learned a lot from this, and we will be better prepared next time, if there is a next time.”

Stern said he had no consultations with the Sanders’ campaign about security before the event and was unaware whether any other organizers did.

“I think they assumed we would do a good job of it,” he said of the campaign.

A spokeswoman for Sanders said the campaign does not discuss security.

“No one can say that security is not a concern of ours, that we’re not taking proper precautions, because I believe we are,” said Symone D. Sanders, the campaign’s national press secretary.

The protesters at the Aug. 8 event in Seattle were affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, the same group that disrupted speeches by Sanders and Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley at the Netroots Nation conference for liberal activists July 18 in Phoenix.

The disruption

Event organizers learned through social media that there could be a disruption at the Aug. 8 event by the protesters, who are seeking racial justice reforms. They decided if the protesters made it to the stage, they would let them speak after Sanders’ remarks, Stern said.

“We felt that the issues being raised by the Black Lives Matter movement are very important and something that needed to be heard,” Stern said. “So we were not going to get into a physical melee nor were we going to have the police come and arrest them.”

But the women didn’t allow Sanders to speak, and one screamed at Sanders, “If you do not listen to her, your event will be shut down right now.” They refused to return the microphone to Sanders after they held a 41/2 period of silence honoring Michael Brown, the 18-year-old unarmed black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, a year ago.

Organizers then shut down the event, and Sanders eventually left without giving his speech but wading into the crowd and shaking hands.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Sanders of showing “weakness” by allowing the protesters to take over the microphone.

But Terrance Gainer, former Senate sergeant-at-arms, said the response on stage was appropriate, allowing emotions to cool without police involvement.

“Based on what I saw, fighting to regain the stage would be a fool’s errand,” said Gainer, now an independent security consultant. “The police could have won, but it would have been ugly and for not a great reason.”

Secret Service

If Sanders had Secret Service protection, however, former agents said he would have been escorted off stage to a secure location. Wednesday, a citizens’ petition posted on the White House website called for immediate Secret Service protection for Sanders, given the recent disruptions.

Currently, only Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton receives Secret Service protection as a former first lady. Governors who are running for president receive protection from state law enforcement agencies. Major presidential candidates receive Secret Service protection later in the race, though some might qualify earlier. President Barack Obama, for instance, received protection in May 2007 because of threats.

Candidates must always balance their needs for exposure and security, security professionals say. That balance could require extra sensitivity for Sanders, who says he wants to address Black Lives Matter concerns about criminal justice reform — including the use of force by police — and the need to fight racism.

“We want to hear what they have to say,” campaign spokeswoman Symone Sanders said of the Black Lives Matter protesters. “I don’t want anyone to think that if we have security at an event, if we’re checking bags at the door, that means we’re trying to silence the voices of protesters and activists.”

But security professionals agree that, going into an event, it’s important for candidates to have a plan for dealing with everything from a response to confrontations and a safe area for the candidate to how much weight the stage can hold.

Disruptions might become more frequent, given the number of candidates in the race, former agent James Mottola said. Candidates must consider security as a means to help them get their message out to voters in a safe manner.

“We have to provide security to let the democratic process play out,” Mottola said.

This story was first posted online on Aug. 13, 2015. Contact Nicole Gaudiano at ngaudiano@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ngaudiano.