Subject: WSJ: Bernie Sanders Says Campaign Committed to Nonviolence Amid Nevada Dust-Up
From: "Palermo, Rachel" <[email-masked]>
To: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>, "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>, "Garcia, Walter" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2016 14:09:24 -0700

Bernie Sanders Says Campaign Committed to Nonviolence Amid Nevada Dust-Up<http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-says-campaign-committed-to-nonviolence-amid-nevada-dust-up-1463516614>
Chairwoman of the state party says she has been threatened by supporters of Democratic candidate
WSJ // BYRON TAU

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders rejected accusations that his supporters were prone to violence, moving to tamp down fallout from a contentious state Democratic convention in Nevada while also insisting that the Democratic Party must accommodate people fighting for "real" change.

Supporters of the Vermont senator disrupted the Nevada convention on Saturday to the point where the event was shut down over security concerns. Mr. Sanders lost the state's popular vote in February but his campaign was hoping to secure additional delegates at the state party convention.

"Our campaign of course believes in nonviolent change and it goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals," Mr. Sanders said in a statement Tuesday.

He said his campaign also had been the victim of threats and intimidation, noting gunshots fired at a campaign office in Nevada earlier this year. He added that the Democratic Party had a choice between the status quo and grass-roots change-a signal that Mr. Sanders is willing to continue his uphill battle against Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination well into the summer.

"It can open its doors and welcome into the party people who are prepared to fight for real economic and social change-people who are willing to take on Wall Street, corporate greed and a fossil-fuel industry which is destroying this planet. Or the party can choose to maintain its status quo structure," he said.

In the aftermath of the disputed Nevada convention, supporters of Mr. Sanders have expressed their displeasure about the outcome to the chairwoman of the state party Roberta Lange, including threats of violence and harassment.

"Sanders activists have posted her cellphone and home address online, and have bombarded her with threats to her life and the safety of her family," the Nevada Democratic Party's general counsel wrote in a letter to the national Democratic Party.

The state party took the unusual step of filing a formal complaint about the behavior of Mr. Sanders's supporters with the Democratic National Committee, warning that the state convention could foreshadow a contentious national convention in Philadelphia this summer.

The Nevada state party said Mr. Sanders's supporters had a "penchant" for disruptive behavior and violence. It warned that Mr. Sanders's supporters created "a very dangerous atmosphere that ended in chaos and physical threats to fellow Democrats."

According to audio recordings obtained by Nevada journalist Jon Ralston, Ms. Lange has received threatening voice mails that say she deserved to be imprisoned, call her an "old hag" and ask her to step down from her leadership of the state party.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called on all candidates to denounce violence and threatening behavior on the part of their supporters.

"Our democracy is undermined any time threats, intimidation, physical violence or damage to property are present. If there are legitimate concerns, they must be addressed in an orderly, civil and peaceful manner," Ms. Wasserman Schultz said in a statement Tuesday.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama expects "that there will be a strong commitment to that principle of nonviolence. And the way that candidates in both parties address this question publicly is important."

--
[DNC]<http://www.democrats.org/>
Rachel Palermo
Democratic National Committee
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>
202-863-8041