Politics
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at Brown Chapel AME Church on Sunday.
- Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke at the Brown Chapel AME Church on Sunday for their annual service in remembrance of the "Bloody Sunday" massacre.
- During Bloomberg's speech, a group of about 10 congregants stood up and turned their backs to him.
- One of the protesters later told the Montgomery Advertiser that he was frustrated that Bloomberg didn't address his controversial stop-and-frisk policy.
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Congregants at a Selma, Alabama church known for its role in the civil rights movement protested a speech by presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg on Sunday by standing up and turning their backs on the former New York City mayor.
Bloomberg and fellow Democratic candidate Joe Biden spoke at Brown Chapel AME Church on Sunday as part of its annual service in remembrance of the "Bloody Sunday" march, in which hundreds of protestors were beaten while marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Bloomberg used his speech to talk about the issues black Americans face with voter suppression.
One of the protesters said they turned their backs on Bloomberg because he didn't address his stop-and-frisk policy.
The newspaper spoke to one of the protestors afterward, who said he decided to stand up and turn his back to Bloomberg because he didn't address his controversial stop-and-frisk policy.
In total, about 10 congregants turned their backs on Bloomberg during his speech, causing him to momentarily stumble over his prepared statements.
"There's a direct connection to the police brutality on Bloody Sunday and that brutality he presided over in NYC. So I thought he would lean into the moment, to really acknowledge it, take responsibility for it and atone for it," Ryan Haygood told the Montgomery Advertiser. "And not only did he not do that, it was clear to me that he wasn't even going to address the issue at all. And so I wrestled with it. So I felt like I had to do something to acknowledge that that's not OK especially in this sacred space. This is a space that changed the world."
Stop-and-frisk has been one of the biggest challenges of Bloomberg's self-funded campaign. The policy saw hundreds of thousands of people stopped on the street and frisked a year during the Bloomberg administration. In 2013, a federal judge ruled that it violated the rights of minorities.
Business Insider reached out to the Bloomberg campaign for comment Monday morning, but did not immediately receive a response.
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