On Memorial Day, Sanders led a procession of veterans during an unannounced stop at the former Presidio military base in San Francisco before crossing the Bay Bridge for a pair of scheduled events in neighboring Oakland. There, he first spoke at Allen Temple Baptist Church, focusing on economic, racial and educational inequality before heading to Frank Ogawa Plaza—known among local activists as Oscar Grant Plaza—to address a large and energized crowd gathered in front of City Hall. He even made a surprise halftime appearance at Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals as the Golden State Warriors advanced to the championship round for the second straight season.
At the City Hall rally, Sanders was introduced by University of California, Berkeley economist and former Clinton administration labor secretary Robert Reich, who lauded Bernie’s “courage to stand up to the establishment” and said he agreed with the candidate’s assessment that the current “concentration of income, wealth and political power is undermining our economy and eroding our democracy.”
Sanders said that concentration of power has led to a situation in which America “can invest trillions of dollars fighting a war in Iraq we should have never gotten into” while “we don’t have the funds to rebuild our crumbling cities.”
“No to more wars,” thundered Sanders to roaring applause. “No to more tax breaks for millionaires and corporations. Yes to investing in depressed inner cities and poverty-stricken rural communities!”
“I’ve been to Flint and talked to parents whose children’s water was poisoned by lead,” said Sanders. “I’ve been to Detroit, where the public school system is on the verge of collapse. I’ve been to Baltimore, where tens of thousands of people are addicted to heroin and can’t get treatment.”
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Around 20,000 people lined up for many blocks to hear the 74-year-old democratic socialist speak. This Digital Journalist was there and interviewed numerous Sanders supporters.
“I have an immune disorder and am willing to be ill in this sun and heat to see this wonderful man speak,” said 57-year-old artist Carey Caccavo Wheaton, who traveled 60 miles from Sebastopol to volunteer at the event. “I love Bernie because he truly cares about all of us; he’s a true FDR Democrat with the values this country needs to recover from its ills—vast income inequality, corruption in our elections, a lack of caring for ordinary citizens, worship of money and power and a corrupt media that won’t even fairly represent an election.” It was a refrain heard over and over again—that Bernie just cares more than any other candidate about ordinary people.
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