Bernie supporters TRAP Democrat state candidate for Illinois in her car & demand she debate socialist rival
BERNIE Sanders supporters have been criticised for posting a video of themselves screaming at Illinois Democratic candidate Betsy Dirksen and trapping her in her car.
In the video, the Bernie fans can be seen following Dirksen, yelling “Medicare for All” and demanding she debate rival socialist candidate Stephanie Smith.
At one point, the activists are heard saying “block her in” and to “get by her window” as they surround the car.
The two candidates are both running in Illinois’ 13th Congressional district, and appeared recently at a forum together.
Dirksen pledged to support Smith if she won, but Smith denied she would do the same in return.
The video was originally from a Facebook live stream posted on Monday night by a group named “Where is Betsy?”
According to the group, they exist “for the soul purpose of spotting Betsy Lodrigan Dirkson in her travels through out the IL-13 district.”
The clip was then posted on Twitter by CPS Capital Bureau Chief Mark Maxwell, who called the incident “bizarre”.
In a later post, Maxwell attacked the Bernie campaigners for their behavior.
He wrote: “It’s staggering to me how many people are unwilling to believe what they can witness with their own eyes.
“Campaigns can get desperate down the stretch… That desperation doesn’t justify these kind of hooligan tactics, and boorish behavior doesn’t on its own merit a public platform.”
The ‘Bernie Bros’ have come under fire recently for some of their tactics.
Last week, Michael Bloomberg’s campaign blamed graffiti attacks on field offices over recent weeks on the rhetoric of Sanders’ fans.
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The graffiti that appeared on multiple offices over he course of the week read things like “F**k Bloomberg” and “Eat the Rich”.
Campaign manager Mike Sheekey said: “We don’t know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters.”
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