A gathering of Pete Buttigieg supporters was interrupted last night in South Bend, Indiana. According to the Washington Post, voters were there to hear about the good things the presidential candidate has done for the community.
As city council member Sharon McBride was sharing her spiel with other attendees, a man with a Black Lives Matter tee rushed to the front to criticize the moment.
“Where are the Black leaders who don’t have three-piece suits, leather jackets, and nice clothing?” a seemingly non-Black man in a “Black Lives Matter South Bend” shirt said as he grabbed the mic from McBride. “Who chose these people as Black leaders?”
The detractor was apparently upset by the “police crisis” in town and suggested that the roughly 75 attendees should be more concerned about that. He also called the meeting for Buttigieg “a farce.”
A number of guests quickly rushed to pull the mic from the man’s hand. In the aftermath, McBride told reporters that the altercation with the heckler who she believes is not Black, was “demeaning” and labeled it “a form of bigotry.”
“People can have their opinions and their views,” McBride told The Washington Post. “But for them to be disrespectful, when it comes to snatching mics and shoving, is just a disgrace to our city.”
While Buttigieg’s popularity has continued to climb in Iowa, polls show that he still has very little support from the Black community. Those who organized the event which took place on Dec. 4, say that it’s in part due to the misleading headlines about support from the city of South Bend. They were looking to dispell the “false media narrative” that has plagued his campaign.
Despite the brief distraction, ABC57 reports that the African American leaders who put the event together, still count it as a success.