Bernie Sanders On Sandra Bland: ‘We Must Reform Our Criminal Justice System’

Bernie Sanders is working to the set the record straight over his position on African American rights. After Sanders was forced off stage by Black Lives Matter protesters at a Netroots Nation gathering in Phoenix, he’s been under pressure to express his support of African Americans.

During a visit on Saturday in Louisiana’s Southern Christian Leadership’s 57th annual conference, Sanders spoke on Sandra Bland, an African American woman who was arrested over a minor traffic violation, spoke out against police brutality, and supposedly committed suicide in a jail cell three days later, reports MSNBC.

“A person who commits a minor traffic violation — I think she forgot to put on her turn signal — should not be yanked out her car, assaulted, handcuffed, put in jail and die three days later. It’s not what should happen you commit a minor violation. We must reform our criminal justice system. Black lives do matter and we must value black lives.”

“Anybody who saw the recent Sandra Bland tape understands that tragically, racism is alive and well in America. I don’t think anybody believes that a middle-class white woman would have been yanked out of her car, thrown on the ground, assaulted and then ended up jail because she made a minor traffic violation.”

As Sanders spoke in front of black leaders in Louisiana — knowing he needs to court black voters to win the Democratic nomination — he returned to the key issues of his campaign, jobs and affordable education.

“To my mind, it makes eminently more sense to invest in jobs and education, rather than jails and incarceration. That is an issue that we have in common, do we not?”

Souther Christian Leadership Council President Charles Steele expressed enthusiasm about Sanders and his civil rights record.

“Even though I like him so much, we do not endorse candidates. Most importantly, he understands the Civil Rights movement. He was involved back in the 60s.”

On Meet the Press, Sanders further defended his record as a champion of civil rights.

“I’m not dismissive. I’ve been involved in the civil rights movement all of my life, and I believe that we have to deal with this issue of institutional racism.”

Sanders further described Martin Luther King Jr. as a champion for the poor, which was the issue he was tackled right before his assassination.

[Image via Win McNamee/Getty Images]