Sanders: "I do not like people disrupting anybody's meetings"

[oberliner]

The full quote:

"I think people have the right to protest. I do not like people disrupting anybody's meetings. And I would hope that my supporters will not disrupt meetings. To protest is one thing. To disrupt is something else."

http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2016/03/13/senator-bernie-sanders-we-had-nothing-to-do-our-campaign-had-nothing-to-do-with-disrupting-his-meeting/

[TwilightGardener]

1. I agree with him. Protesting is fine. Not allowing the speaker to speak at all is not.

[oberliner]

6. I agree with him too

I'd be curious to hear from those who don't.

[questionseverything]

26. no one stopped trump from speaking,they only delayed it

trump could easily have waited til the protesters were cleared and then done his thing

when public people hold public events and some of the public tells them they do not agree with their message,it is not a problem for me

that is democracy in action

[TwilightGardener]

29. Bernie is a responsible man--he doesn't want his supporters, or BLM, or any

other well-meaning protestor--to go to a tRump rally and try to stir up the crazies inside the venue and get their heads smashed in. Not that he can control the tone and behavior of someone else's rally, mind you, but to indicate approval of total disruption would be irresponsible and unpresidential on his part. He's doing the right thing.

[questionseverything]

30. i have no problem with bernie's stance on this

but i personally support the protesters as long as they are non violent

sings and chants are fine with me

[Logical]

33. I agree. If every political event was screamed down not much would happen. nt

[noretreatnosurrender]

2. I agree

Glad to see Bernie saying this.

[Autumn]

3. I agree with Bernie 100% on this.

[NWCorona]

4. I agree with Bernie

But I'm also glad that we brought it to trump. His rhetoric needs to be changed!

[Autumn]

7. He's a nasty SOB. I caught some of what he has said on the toad show this morning

and none of the pukes have the guts to come out and say how nasty he is.

[NWCorona]

8. Yup! I watched that as well

[NashuaDW]

12. Reap what you sow

Are you going to be as happy when some group decides Bernie's rhetoric needs to be changed?

[NWCorona]

16. I haven't heard Bernie egging on violence. Have you?

Nice try tho

[Autumn]

17. Are you really saying Bernie would ever possibly stoke his people to be that fucking nasty?

[oberliner]

19. Don't you think Trump people might infiltrate a Bernie rally to be nasty?

Certainly that is not outside the realm of possibility.

[merrily]

54. Thanks for your concern, but neo Nazis don't need a reason to be nasty.

[oberliner]

58. Sometimes an excuse like Trump saying "maybe we'll go to a Sanders rally" helps motivate them

He tends to have a lot of sway over his most rabid followers.

[merrily]

59. As I already stated, thanks for your concern, but nazi turds never needed an excuse.

[oberliner]

65. You are very welcome

It is quite scary to watch what is unfolding right now in American politics.

I hope cooler heads will prevail!

[merrily]

53. 60th post since 2009. Interesting what finally motivates infrequent posters to make a post

Rhetoric needs? LOL!

[bigwillq]

5. Good statement.

[speaktruthtopower]

9. A Moral Leader...

whether one agrees or disagrees with all of his positions.

[oberliner]

11. Amen

He really is a rarity in the political arena.

[Skwmom]

10. I agree. n/t

[Jefferson23]

13. The power of the peaceful protests are in the streets, not the ones infiltrating his inside rallies.

They risk a great deal otherwise and their message is skewed when they do that. With that said, it is
painful to hear the shit Trump says..it is the basis of fascism and I get how infuriated those infiltrating
his rallies feel.

A direct quote from Trump last night to his followers: We are going to take our country
back from those people, they do nothing, they do nothing.

[oberliner]

15. Do you think it was wrong for those protestors to have infiltrated that Trump rally in Chicago?

Should the protest have been confined to outside of the venue?

[Jefferson23]

18. As I said, I get why they want to do that in a direct way, Trump is all over the news

covered by the msm and the protestors rightly believe he needs to be confronted.

Yet, there is the fact they risk harm to themselves and they risk preventing an
event Trumps supporters have a right to hold. Preventing their right to hold
their events will not help promote a functioning democracy..which is what
they are fighting for.

Outside protests allow Trumps supporters their rights while outside peaceful
crowds convey the condemnation his supporters have earned.

[oberliner]

20. That makes sense

I can just imagine a scenario now where Trump people try to infiltrate a Bernie rally and things could get ugly as a result.

[Jefferson23]

28. They might, one thing we have learned is anything is possible this election cycle.

All pretty much reacting to his fascist rhetoric, which has been beyond hate speech.

[aikoaiko]

14. To assemble and speak within the law is a fundamental civil liberty.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

34. Yes, and respect the process by protesting outside the hall, not inside ...

... lest it happen to your favorite speaker too.

[Uncle Joe]

21. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, oberliner.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. From videos

standing silently with a sign is protesting, the disruption is coming from TRUMP HIMSELF.

[oberliner]

24. Did protestors do nothing more than stand silently with a sign?

It seems that some did.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. It seems that this is the pattern

from every rally coverage I have seen, including Chicago.

It is Trump, or his security that do the disruption. This is so oh 1930s, tough man act, that anybody with a passing knowledge of the rise of the third reich, or Mussolini, will recognize this miles away.

For the record, people have been kicked out of HRC rallies, by officers asking them to leave. None has called attention to them. (And these are rare as hell by the way). Trump loves to call attention to these kick outs and eggs the crowd on to essentially physically assault them. People better wake up SOON... becuase this has not been funny since at least July of last year. Sadly, most people are still whistling past the graveyard.

For the record, I do not expect any of the other candidates, both R and D, to know how to respond to this. After all, this is out of the norm of recent American politics.

[roody]

23. I would not do it, but

if Act up had not disrupted meetings, how many more would have died of AIDS?

[Kalidurga]

27. Wearing a shirt someone finds offensive is not a disruption.

That only happens when someone doesn't like the BLM shirt and starts throwing punches. That being said I don't know and no one seems to know exactly what happened. But, that has been the case at other rallies, silent protesters get beat up.

[oberliner]

35. I think you are mixing up two different incidents

The one where the guy threw a punch is not the Chicago one that got cancelled.

[Kalidurga]

38. No I am saying that until now it's been peaceful until Donald's side throws a punch over a t-shirt.

I have no reason to believe any of the protesters disrupted until they were physically attacked. However, no one knows what really happened. I don't expect the nature of the protests actually changed just the number of protesters.

[oberliner]

40. "Our whole purpose was to shut it down"

"Our whole purpose was to shut it down," said Green, a Chicago-based entertainer and activist. "Trump tried to bring his rally to one of the most diverse universities, and we had to show him that our voice in civil rights was greater than his voice. The minority became the majority today."

Green said that the planning for the protest began about a week ago, when they found out that there was going to be a Trump rally. Green was not alone in planning the event. He said there were many different people and groups collaborating on what to do and how to conduct the protest.

There were many Facebook pages created to draw Trump opponents to the event. One of those pages, "Trump Rally Protest - Chicago," had 11,000 marked as attending and 19,000 marked as interested. That page tells people to buy tickets online and lays out the reasons for the rally.

Green was supposed to be attending the Bernie Sanders rally just 10 miles away from the Trump rally, but when he found out that he was cut from of the program due to time constraints he went to the Trump rally instead. He did not inform the campaign that he was going and said that it had nothing to do with him protesting.

At the protest, Green said the plan was for demonstrators to make noise when Trump walked onstage "and then rush the stage."

Green said the thinking was that the police would not know who to grab because there would be so many people doing it.

The protesters' main chants were: "We stopped Trump" and "Not in Chicago."

When the rally was canceled, the plan to rush the stage was off, but not for Jedidiah Brown, another Sanders supporter.

"I had my sight on the stage," he said. "I was set on it with gusto. When he did not come out, I was still going to put out my message that America is already great without hate."

He charged the stage, ripped a Trump poster and was detained. He lost his glasses and said, "I will have to the blind for a while."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-chicago-rally-protest-bernie-sanders-supporters-election-2016/

[Kalidurga]

42. And Trump let them do that.

The police said they could handle the crowd and the rally could go on safely. So, it's still on the coward who wants to have people beat up over a t-shirt.

[oberliner]

44. I'm just saying there was more to it than silently holding signs

This was an action with the goal of shutting down the event - and it was a success in that regard.

[Kalidurga]

45. Good

Trump can give any speech he wants to give. But, he does not get to choose how people in their own communities react to it.

[oberliner]

46. So you don't agree with Bernie on this?

Namely the quote I posted in the OP:

"I do not like people disrupting anybody's meetings. And I would hope that my supporters will not disrupt meetings. To protest is one thing. To disrupt is something else."

[Kalidurga]

47. No I don't agree

Communities have a right to tell people if they are insulting their communities and that their hating on them is not acceptable.

[oberliner]

66. Fair enough

I just am worried about where this will all end up.

[Kalidurga]

69. I wouldn't worry about it. Hillary likes to keep her hands clean.

And Hillary supporters are all about having calm rational conversations.

[oberliner]

70. What does Hillary have to do with this?

She can barely get 500 people at one of her gatherings.

[Kalidurga]

71. lol true

[840high]

31. I agree with Bernie - strongly.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

32. Freepers are "targetting" Sanders rallies now:

Posted on 2016-03-13, 3:35:17 PM by Jack Black

As reported by the Washington Post Trump has warned Bernie that there will be retribution if his supporters continue to disrupt Trump events.

Anyone up for some old-skool Freepin'?

In case you are here is a list of Bernie's upcoming events. Discuss specific targets below in comments.

MAR 13
Affton, Missouri Rally with Bernie Sanders
Sun 9:30 AM in CDT
Affton High School
St. Louis, MO

....

[AzDar]

36. "I May Disagree With What You Say, But I Shall Defend To The Death Your Right To Say It" -Voltaire

I'm With Bernie...

[21st Century Poet]

50. That is not Voltaire.

The quote comes from Evelyn Beatrice Hall, who in 1906 published it in a book called Friends of Voltaire. She published the book under the pseudonym Stephen G. Tallentyre (largely because women authors were not taken very seriously back then).

The quote is often attributed to Voltaire but he never actually said it.

[AzDar]

55. Duly noted.

[goldent]

37. I don't think any candidate wants to get into a battle of whose

"supporters" can "out disrupt" the others.

[idea5]

39. Phonebank instead :)

Reaching out to supporters and getting out the vote is a lot easier than trying to convince Trump supporters to change their mind.

[riversedge]

41. So,will some Sanders continue to brag about shutting down the

Trump rally?

[oberliner]

43. That was the purpose

The goal was to shut down the rally and it was considered a win by some of the organizers.

[Skwmom]

48. Interesting how Moveon helped organize the rally.

I thought their leadership was for Clinton .....

I remember the misleading response they issued after the Netroots confrontation...

[roguevalley]

52. move on endorsed bernie after member vote

[Skwmom]

73. That doesn't change who runs the group OR who they support. And it always helps to have

groups you can disparage as you trash progressives.

[creeksneakers2]

49. I was hoping Bernie would say this

It's not only the right thing to do but avoids unfair comparisons that would be drawn between his supporters and Trumps. Most of the public doesn't like aggression in any form. All his quotes linked to are great quotes.

[warrprayer]

51. Someone should have disrupted Hitlers meetings

And Trump is in the same catagory.

[oberliner]

57. Communists regularly disrupted Hitler's meetings

That's why they formed the Brownshirts: to defend Hitler's meetings from such disruptions (and then to disrupt those of his political opponents).

In fact, that is what helped to convince the German people that a tough guy like Hitler was needed to bring law and order to the country.

This is a dangerous road to go down.

[warrprayer]

61. Thanks for the excellent post

And sadly it is the road Trump has taken.

[oberliner]

64. You are welcome

It is scary to watch what is unfolding right now.

[21st Century Poet]

56. This makes me happy.

I am not only happy that Bernie said this but I am also happy to see so many people agree with him.

I felt very lonely on Friday. Everybody seemed to be celebrating the shutting down of a political rally. Meanwhile, I was worried about the many bad consequences that that shut down could lead to: for America, for democracy, for freedom of speech and also for Bernie's campaign. That crazy man who tried to tackle Mr Trump then made things worse. This message could not have come too soon.

[oberliner]

60. The man who tried to tackle Mr. Trump wasn't crazy

He was actually quite clear headed about his intentions and what he was doing.

[21st Century Poet]

62. Crazy in the loose, informal sense of the word.

Not necessarily the clinical and medical one.

[oberliner]

68. Gotcha

I am just saying that he has been a student political activist for some time now, not some unhinged wacko.

[Firebrand Gary]

63. K&R

[basselope]

67. Thank you, Bernie.

[felix_numinous]

72. Bernie Sanders already shows great leadership.

We massively outnumber these Nazi extremists and Trump will be defeated.

Trump's words are meant to be flame bait, he will just stand back and get off on watching the fights, he is a petty tyrant.

[Waiting For Everyman]

74. Glad to see this, it's exactly what I expected he'd say.