US News

Sanders supporters walk out of DNC after Clinton nomination

Philadelphia — Dozens of Bernie Sanders delegates rushed the media tent and the Democratic convention and refused to leave after Hillary Clinton clinched the nomination.

Upset their candidate had officially conceded, Sanders supporters moved from the convention to to a tent in the parking lot where media are stationed.

“A lot of people were holding out hope Bernie would get the nomination,” said protester Raina Whiting, a 28-year-old delegate who flew 15 hours from Hawaii to support Sanders “When he finally ended up saying we’re going to make this unanimous and Hillary is our nominee it really didn’t feel like the right thing to do. It felt like he was backed into a corner and forced to make that decision … It’s never been fair.”

Delegates from various states organized the protest on social media. Some sat on the floor of the media center, others roamed with Bernie signs and some refused to say anything at all with their mouths taped shut.

Police immediately surrounded the peaceful protesters. No confrontations were observed.

“The message is that when there is a citizen funded campaign we don’t expect to be shut down by the corporations,” said Ohio delegate Jen Kanagy. “We funded Bernie’s campaign. Two million of us. We sent money that maybe we didn’t have. We all paid to come here and fight against the emails, where they colluded against his campaign and voter disenfranchisement.”

Each state cast roll call votes for Sanders and Clinton on the convention floor Tuesday evening. Clinton won the necessary number of delegates on the floor. But Sanders supporters say the system was rigged.

“It feels like our vote doesn’t matter at all,” Whiting added. “When we arrived they had already decided our votes didn’t matter and Hillary was already the nominee.”

See more of the protest on Twitter: