Footage Emerges of Bernie Sanders Being Arrested at 1963 Anti-Segregation Protest

A decades-old video has emerged showing Chicago cops arresting a young protester – who bears a striking resemblance to young Bernie Sanders – at a 1963 anti-segregation demonstration in Chicago.

The New York Times reported: “On Friday, Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Mr. Sanders’s campaign, and Tad Devine, a senior adviser to the campaign, said Mr. Sanders had said it was him”. He was charged with resisting arrest, found guilty, and fined $25.

The Chicago Tribune released the photo this week, while the Sanders campaign confirmed the image was indeed of the 74-year-old democratic socialist from Vermont on Saturday.

Despite the success of an insurgent campaign that has seen him finish in a virtual tie in Iowa and an emphatic win in New Hampshire, Sanders has struggled to quickly win over black and Hispanic voters. “He looked at it, he actually has his student ID from the University of Chicago in his wallet, and he said, ‘Yes, that indeed is [me]”.

On Monday, production company Kartemquin Films released footage from the rally, explicitly showing the young Sanders’ arrest – though they didn’t know it at the time.

The photograph’s negative was discovered in the Chicago Tribune archives, according to Tribune photo editor Marianne Mather.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a prominent Civil Rights leader and Hillary Clinton supporter, claimed that he “never saw” Sanders at any protests. And in the race to appeal to black voters, Clinton surrogates have even questioned Sanders’ civil rights activism. He made the remarks during a press conference announcing the Congressional Black Caucus PAC’s endorsement of Clinton.