Political theater just got absurder: Clinton delegate attacks Bernie supporter with his cane

A Democratic Party meeting in New York erupted in chaos earlier this week, as Bernie Sanders supporters were denied a motion to vote for DNC chairman and had their microphone cut during an objection.

In the ensuing commotion, a delegate for Hillary Clinton allegedly smacked a woman of color twice, once with his hand and another time with his cane.

Problems began when Democratic party officials voted Governor Andrew Cuomo as convention chairman. As Sanders supporters attempted to nominate other candidates instead, their mic was cut off and debate was shut down.

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Nomiki Konst, a Fox News contributor and Bernie supporter attempted several times to get an explanation for what was going on, filming her efforts as a Sanders delegate joined her.

That’s when trouble brewed. Via the New York Post:

Sanders delegate Moumit ­Ahmed of Jamaica, Queens, even filed a police complaint after a Hillary Clinton delegate, an elderly, bearded man with a cane, hit her from behind, she said. When she confronted him, he allegedly hit her with his cane again.

“He assaulted me!” Ahmed said.

Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer for the Sanders campaign, said, “This was dumb, really dumb.”

New York for Bernie issued a statement on the incident saying there was “documented assault” at the meeting.

When a member of the Sanders delegation – a young woman of color – moved to the said to second the motion, an elderly white male Hillary supporter hit her with his hand and his cane.

A more thorough accounting of events has been reported by a site called ShadowProof.

Moumita Ahmed, an at-large delegate for Bernie Sanders and co-founder of Millennials For Bernie, walked down the aisle to rally fellow delegates at the New York state meeting. The chair of the meeting, Michael Reich, a lawyer for the Democratic Party, refused to accept motions from the floor. Ahmed attempted to mobilize people in the back of the room to challenge Reich. But, as she was walking, an elderly white man who is a delegate for Hillary Clinton reached out and grabbed her.

This man took his hand and smacked her on her upper back “really hard,” according to Ahmed. He gave her a “little bruise.” When she turned around, Ahmed said “he hit me with his cane” and “tried to trip me.” She asked people sitting by the man if they had seen what just happened. Some were a bit stunned, but one person suggested he was old, so she shouldn’t worry about it. Staffers at the New York meeting had a similar reaction and acted like nothing could be done to remove this person.

Ahmed told Shadowproof she went back to the man and sharply warned him never to hit her again. He took his cane and hit her with it. Staff working registration for the state meeting were urged to do something about this man, but they maintained it was no big deal.

Clinton delegate who hit Moumita Ahmed with his cane.
Clinton delegate who hit Moumita Ahmed with his cane.

“Can you imagine if that man was a Bernie delegate?” Ahmed asked.

Better yet, can you imagine if that man was a Trump supporter?

Ahmed took to social media, documenting the incident on Facebook.

She posted, “I was physically assaulted at the DNC delegation meeting by a HRC delegate twice and no one did anything,” later adding the same basic message to Twitter.

 

Ahmed added this ironic statement:

 

She referred to the man as “an old white Hillary bro,” but he would later be identified as Nicholas Silitch, who Konst describes as a “well-known” Democratic operative who has “hosted meet-and-greets and fundraisers at his home.”

Silitch is listed as a State Committee Member for the Washington County Democratic Party Committee. A 2010 Post Star article describes him as a Democratic Committee Chairman.

In the video below, Ahmed can be seen returning to Silitch’ seat warning him “don’t ever f***ing touch me” after he allegedly struck her the first time.

As she walks away, a loud crack can be heard as the man pulls his cane back towards him. Ahmed and other witnesses claim the cane struck her in the back of the leg.

https://youtu.be/loQaLMz-wdk

Ahmed explains the altercation a bit on Twitter, describing what is being seen:

 

Silitch’s wife, Mary, has a Facebook page that includes a picture of her husband; both Silitches can be easily identified in the video. The couple’s support for Hillary is on full display, as Mary declares she “finally got” her Clinton campaign women’s card. In another image, she proclaims that she too is “now a member of the New York State Democratic Committee.”

This isn’t the first time a New York Democratic committee has been accused of subverting democracy within their own party. Earlier in the campaign season, Albany County Democrats were being called “undemocratic” and “unethical” for openly supporting Clinton over Sanders.

Now they’ve shut down Sanders supporters again, handpicking Cuomo as their DNC chairman and doing whatever it takes to shut the opposition up.

Cross-posted at the Mental Recession

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss is editor of the Mental Recession, one of the top conservative blogs of 2012. His writings have appeared at the Daily Caller, American Thinker, FoxNews.com, Big Government, the Times Union, and the Troy Record.

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