Sharon Coolidge

scoolidge@enquirer.com

PHILADELPHIA - Hundreds of supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders – including actors Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover – descended on the media area of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday to show support for former Ohio Sen. Nina Turner, who says she was not permitted to speak at the convention.

Turner, Ohio's highest-profile Sanders supporter, has developed a national following. Sanders asked Cleveland's Turner to give a speech to put his name in nomination Tuesday, but she ultimately was not allowed to speak, she told Cleveland.com.

Tweets and reports said that night the Hillary Clinton campaign had revoked her credentials, but Turner told The Enquirer in a text message she had not been escorted out. Still, her saga galvanized Sanders supporters still disappointed in their candidate's loss to Clinton and in leaked emails that showed leaders in the Democratic National Committee backed the former secretary of state in the long Democratic primary. Turner even got her own Twitter hashtag: #ImWithNina.

The rally in her honor Wednesday, organized by the National Nurses Association, attracted hundreds of media outlets.

Supporters want to hear from Turner because she is "electrifying," said Nick Froehlich, a Miami University sophomore and a Sanders delegate from Ohio. "She gets you fired up."

"I'm not here to show any outrage. I'm here to show appreciation," he added. Other members of the Ohio delegation joined him.

Thomas Watral, a Sanders delegate from Mentor, who rallied in support of Turner, said he will ultimately vote for Clinton – a comment that prompted another Turner supporter to call him a “mole.”

“We’re young. We’re trying to get involved,” Watral said.

Despite the excitement at the media center, the rally did not involve a majority of Sanders' 1,900 delegates and didn't interrupt the convention, which was already underway Wednesday evening.

"Honestly, I don't know anything about it," said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper, who was inside the arena. "Lots of excitement inside to hear from (former Congresswoman) Gabby Giffords, the vice president and president among others."

Staff writer Chrissie Thompson contributed.