TIMOTHY A. CLARY
Apparent Pro-Bernie supporters heckled war heroes endorsing Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention, shouting “No More Wars” as veterans spoke on stage.
Holding signs, many of the hecklers were wearing fluorescent yellow shirts, an idea developed by a member of the Colorado delegation to designate themselves as Sanders supporters who wanted to send a signal that they did not prefer Clinton.
As retired Four-Star Gen. John Allen and Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg endorsed Clinton, hecklers interrupted several times, only to be drowned out by shouts of “U-S-A!” from the vast majority of the crowd. Both Allen and Groberg spoke at length about how Clinton was imminently qualified to be president of the United States.
“Hillary Clinton has been preparing for this moment for decades,” Groberg said in his remarks. “As commander-in-chief she will defeat ISIS.”
Groberg earned a Medal of Honor in Afghanistan four years ago, after grabbing a suicide bomber and throwing him away from his troops. He lost a part of his leg in the incident.
“There were a couple hecklers… It’s America—freedom of speech!” Groberg told The Daily Beast following his speech Thursday night. He said that he was a registered Republican who decided to endorse Clinton in a speech after her campaign reached out about two weeks ago.
“She asked me to come, and she’s done a lot of things for our veterans,” Groberg said. “Our veterans are dying out there. She’s gone out there and tried to fix it. She’s got experience—as first lady and secretary of state.”
“I’ve never seen a single thing Donald Trump has done for veterans,” he continued.
—Tim Mak