#BlackLivesMatter Did Not Issue Apology to Bernie Sanders
Black Lives Matter has not demanded protesters who interrupted Bernie Sanders's speech at a rally in Seattle Saturday to make an apology.
"The #BlackLivesMatter organization did not create any petitions demanding apology from Seattle based organizers," they tweeted Monday.
Marissa Johnson and Mara Willford, co-founders of Black Lives Matter Seattle, made headlines this past weekend after taking over the stage at a rally in Westlake Park that was celebrating the 80th anniversary of Social Security. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had just began warming up the crowd when the women entered.
Word about an apology first spread Saturday after an unauthorized Twitter page called "BlackLivesMatter-WA" wrote, "To the people of Seattle and @SenSanders I would like to issue a public statement of apology. We still want & need your public support."
Additionally a Facebook page called "Black Lives Matter Seattle" issued a statement on Saturday, stating, "That is not what Black Lives Matter stands for an that is not what we're about." However, neither page was associated with Johnson, Willford nor the Black Lives Matter movement. Specifically, the name of the Facebook page has been changed to Black in Seattle.
Johnson and Willford wanted to confront Sanders for not adequately addressing the demands made by Black Lives Matter protesters who previously took over a stage where Sanders was speaking at the Netroots Convention last month.
"The problem with Sanders, and with white Seattle progressives in general, is that they are utterly and totally useless (when not outright harmful) in terms of the fight for Black lives," wrote Marissa Johnson and Mara Willford in a statement.
Also, blogs have been doing some digging on Johnson, stating that she was a former supporter of the Tea Party and Sarah Palin, a former presidential candidate in 2008. In a Facebook post, Johnson referenced once having a "Sarah Palin button" on her backpack.
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(Photo: Elaine Thompson/AP Photo)
