The presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Saturday it had tapped a young, black criminal justice advocate to serve as its national press secretary.
Symone Sanders, who is of no relation to the junior senator, serves as the national youth chair of the Coalition on Juvenile Justice, a nonprofit that focuses on appropriate care of American youth in the justice system.
She introduced the presidential contender at a rally in Seattle on Saturday that drew 12,000 people — the largest crowd to attend a Sanders event yet — with remarks about racial inequality.
“You know which candidate for president will shut down the private prison industry,” she said, according to CNN. “You know which candidate will have the courage to fight unjust mandatory minimums and the death penalty.”
Though Symone Sanders began to interview for the position several weeks ago, her hiring suggests the campaign is working to attune itself more closely with the cause of Black Lives Matter protesters, who interrupted the candidate for a second time at a different Seattle rally on Saturday. Both the senator and his fellow Democratic presidential hopeful Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley were interrupted by Black Lives Matters protesters at a Netroots Nation event in Phoenix last month.
The new press secretary told BuzzFeed that Sanders had already incorporated some of her suggestions on addressing racial issues into his campaign.
Good on Bernie. A great step to neutralize the “he’s weak on race” meme the 1% media have been floating. And he drew a crowd of 28 K in Portland! I’m beginning to wonder who would be a good VP pick for him.