The campaign field office for presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg in Knoxville, TN was vandalized with spray paint recently, and almost immediately there were suspicions it might have been the work of a backer of rival Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, reportedly suggested the culprit might be a Sanders because language used in spray painting the building “echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters,” Sheekey said, according to the Daily Caller.
There is no solid evidence to support that claim, however.
WVLT News said there were no security cameras at the field office, so it might be difficult to identify any suspects.
The New York Times reported similar incidents in Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“This latest incident at our Knoxville campaign office is exactly what we’ve been warning about,” Sheekey said in a prepared statement quoted by WVLT. “We don’t know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters. Over the past week, we’ve seen similar attacks against Mike Bloomberg 2020 offices in multiple states. Fortunately, no one has been injured. But this needs to end before someone gets hurt. 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.”
Bloomberg, the billionaire anti-gunner and former New York City mayor, crossed swords with Sanders during the recent Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. While Bloomberg is not on the ballot for this weekend’s South Carolina primary, he is participating in the debate Tuesday night.
Vandals reportedly spray painted “oligarch,” “authoritarian,” “classist” and “F—K Bloomberg” on the field office doors.
Bloomberg’s entry into the Democrat primary campaign infuriated some Sanders followers. Bloomberg has spent nearly $500 million already, and he has reportedly vowed to spend a lot more to defeat Donald Trump in November.
