Bloomberg campaign accuses Bernie Sanders camp of inciting vandalism on their offices
Mike Bloomberg's campaign suggested rhetoric from rival Bernie Sanders' camp motivated the vandalization of several of their field offices that included multiple attacks referring to his deep pockets.
"We don't know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters,” Bloomberg campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, said in a press release on Friday.
The campaign said a Bloomberg field office in Knoxville, Tennessee, was vandalized Thursday night with orange spray paint that appears to say “resist” and “f--- Bloomberg,” according to a photo they released.
"We call on Bernie Sanders to immediately condemn these attacks and for his campaign to end the Trump-like rhetoric that is clearly encouraging his supporters to engage in behavior that has no place in our politics,” Sheekey added.
The Sanders campaign declined to comment.
Sanders has recently come under fire after a powerful union in Nevada said they were harassed by Sanders supporters for campaigning against him. He disowned those supporters in Wednesday's debate, saying the vast majority of movement was made up of good people.
The Bloomberg campaign listed five incidents of vandalization they said mirrored Sanders' campaign rhetoric, including an incident at Bloomberg’s office in Toledo, Ohio, on Feb. 13 that the Bloomberg campaign said was linked to a report in the newspaper The Blade that showed pink banners saying "oligarch" and other things affixed to the office’s exterior.
A day later in Youngstown, Ohio, caution tape and signs saying “oligarchy” and “stop and frisk” were put up outside the office, according to NBC affiliate WFMJ. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the words “corporate pig” was spray-painted on office windows, the campaign said. The campaign’s Flint, Michigan, office was defaced this week with a sign saying "eat the rich."
NBC News has not verified the details of any of the reported incidents of vandalism.
Sanders and his allies have repeatedly called Bloomberg an oligarch, though “corporate pig” and “eat the rich” are not phrases found in Sanders' speeches.
