A Bernie Sanders field office in South Carolina called police on Project Veritas investigators seeking comment from campaign officials on a staffer caught on hidden-camera video expressing radical left-wing views.
In a video posted Thursday, an officer with the North Charleston Police Department told a Project Veritas team that the campaign office for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate would have no comment on the video.
“This is what they’re telling me, is that all of the people that they work with and for and stuff like that will have no comment. Will have no comment,” said the officer. “That’s what you’re going to get from them. No comment.”
The officer added: “If you try to make comment with them, it’s no comment. They are aware of videos you guys took, the undercover stuff. It’s one of those things where they wish he hadn’t said that, but they’re still standing by him or whatever. Hey, whatever.”
BREAKING: @BernieSanders Campaign calls the police on @PVeritas_Action.
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) January 23, 2020
Officer: ‘They said they are going to have no comment. If you try to make contact with them it’s no comment…it’s one of those things where they wish he hadn’t said that, but they’re standing by him’ pic.twitter.com/JF3KJfW0zI
Deputy Police Chief Scott Deckard confirmed that the department responded to calls from the Sanders field office twice on Tuesday, the same day the video featuring a man identified as field organizer Martin Weissgerber was released.
“Both of the calls were regarding individuals allegedly following employees and allegedly threatening employees,” Deputy Chief Deckard said in an email.
In a discussion in the parking lot outside the Sanders office in North Charleston, the officer suggested that the Project Veritas crew could be violating state law, saying, “I don’t know if you’ve brushed yourself up on harassment and stalking in South Carolina.”
At that point, the Project Veritas team spotted Mr. Weissgerber, who had been caught on hidden-camera video defending Soviet gulags and saying that if Mr. Sanders loses, “I’ll straight-up get armed” and “I’m ready for the f—-ing revolution, bro.”
A Project Veritas investigator called out, “Hey, Martin, do you have a comment on wanting to dissolve the federal government and have Bernie Sanders act as a director — an executive director?” Mr. Weissgerber did not respond and drove away.
The Sanders camp has not commented publicly on the undercover sting, but Sanders state director Missy Rebik tweeted last week that Iowans “don’t care about political gossip” after the release of a video featuring radical pro-gulag comments from another Sanders field organizer, Kyle Jurek.
The Washington Times has reached out to the Sanders campaign. Top presidential primary candidates like Mr. Sanders, the Vermont senator, typically employ hundreds of paid staffers who do not necessarily speak for the campaign.
Project Veritas founder and president James O’Keefe responded to the office’s decision to contact the police with, “Leave it to the Sanders campaign to consider the free press a threat.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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