Bernie Sanders Supporters in Philadelphia Chant: ‘Lock Her Up!’

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) adopted a slogan from the Republican National Convention in their protests against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Sunday: “Lock her up!”

The Wall Street Journal reports:

At a lively Sunday march in support of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, chants of “lock her up,” “Hillary for Prison” signs and t-shirts and calls for indictment were common among the most ardent supporters of Mr. Sanders, who arrived in Philadelphia to make their voices heard to the delegates attending the Democratic National Convention.

Republicans used last week’s Republican National Convention to make the case that Mrs. Clinton’s perceived ethical lapses made her unfit for office. Delegates to the Republican convention could be heard chanting “Lock her up!” while “Hillary for Prison” shirts and bumper stickers have proliferated across the country.

The Journal further notes that “attendees were more than eager to list the reasons that Mrs. Clinton deserved to be incarcerated,” and were quite capable of doing so.

The chant, which originated on the floor of the Republican gathering in Cleveland, refers to Clinton’s non-indictment for mis-handling classified information. FBI director James Comey said earlier this month that while Clinton had been “extremely reckless” with national security secrets on her private and unauthorized email server, and that they had likely broken the law, they did not have the requisite criminal intent to sustain prosecution.

Critics noted that the relevant statute has no “intent” requirement.

The chant has been adopted by the remaining holdouts for Sanders, even though the Vermont senator ended his campaign and endorsed Hillary Clinton several weeks ago.

The protests have gained renewed energy, thanks to a recent release of emails by Wikileaks, which showed Democratic National Committee (DNC) leaders colluding to assist Clinton and undermine Sanders in the primary. The revelations have been so damaging thus far that they forced the resignation Sunday of DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who will leave after the convention and has long been reviled by the Sanders camp.

During the campaign itself, Sanders showed little interest in the Clinton email scandal, declaring in a presidential primary debate in Las Vegas, Nevada in October: “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!”

The Clinton-friendly media were similarly uninterested in her email scandal: at Sanders’s announcement, the press erupted in jubilation.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, will be published by Regnery on July 25 and is available for pre-order through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.