Bernie Sanders includes Pamela Turner’s death in campaign video

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has released a controversial ad campaign highlighting police brutality featuring the recent death of Pamela Turner, a 45-year-old African-American woman.

Turner was fatally shot last week in Baytown, Texas by a police officer. The Grio reported that the medical examiner’s office ruled her death a homicide last Thursday.

The campaign video for Sanders was released on Facebook earlier this week as a mashup of the actual murder of Turner, Sanders giving speeches and Nina Turner, a former Ohio politician turned senior adviser for Sanders, explaining how Black people aren’t seen the same as other races in America.

The grandmother of three was reportedly gunned down by officer Juan Delacruz, whom she’d had run-ins with before, according to News One. They lived in the same apartment complex and Delacruz allegedly knew of Turner’s mental health issues. However, she was still gunned down.

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Sanders and Nina Turner brought this story to light at a campaign rally in Augusta, Ga. on Sunday, where Turner spoke about Nina’s untimely death.

“There is something wrong in this country when black men and black women can’t get the same justice as everyone else,” Nina Turner said in part on the video.

Sanders wrote that “Pamela Turner should be alive today,” adding that Nina Turner “is right.”

Pamela Turner should be alive today. @ninaturner is right: “There is something wrong in this country when black men and black women can’t get the same justice as everyone else.” pic.twitter.com/XRMVXXHKQj

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 19, 2019

This stance on making sure that Black people are protected came as a surprise to some after Sanders explained “all lives matter,” according to Vox.

Sanders was also quoted saying white people that didn’t vote for Stacey Abrams and Andrew Guilliam in their gubernatorial races “are not necessarily racist” because they felt “uncomfortable” voting for a Black candidate, according to The Daily Beast.

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BlackPAC — an independent, Black-led organization that uses the power of year-round political engagement and elections to change our economic, justice, and political systems— released a poll that shows Sanders in second place for support from Black voters among presidential candidates. “Name identification, which is driving support for candidates at this point, will be insufficient for decisively winning the Black electorate –and subsequently, securing the nomination,” BlackPAC Executive Director Adrianne Shropshire wrote about the new polling data. “Candidates must use this critical window to define their campaigns around these concerns.”

Turner’s funeral took place on Thursday, according to The New York Times. Though Delacruz is seen shooting Turner on video, he returned to work on Monday.