Fight Breaks Out During Bernie Sanders Speech in Colorado Over 'Black Guns Matter' Shirt

A fight reportedly broke out between two people at a Bernie Sanders rally in Colorado over a shirt that said "Black Guns Matter."

Thousands of supporters gathered at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver on Sunday as the Vermont senator made a campaign stop ahead of next month's Super Tuesday primary in Colorado.

CBS Denver reported that a brawl broke out between two men near the stage in the middle of the Democratic candidate's speech. Video of the moment shows the men pushing through a metal barrier as they scuffled—and one is seen knocking the other down to the ground.

Both men ended up landing partly underneath the stage where Sanders was speaking, but onlookers can be seen rushing to separate the pair.

It isn't clear what prompted the incident, but according to a video posted on Twitter, appearing to show the moments leading up to the fight, it was over a shirt worn by a black man that said "Black Guns Matter."

"White dude calls a Black guy's shirt racist, and that's all she wrote…," Twitter user @KHiveQueenB wrote alongside a clip.

Here is video of the lead up to the brawl at the Bernie Sanders event.

White dude calls a Black guy's shirt racist, and that's all she wrote... pic.twitter.com/1O62ewF7CM

— ⚖️Bernie Sanders Will Never Be President ⚖️ (@KHiveQueenB) February 18, 2020

CBS Denver spoke to a man who claimed to be one of the two men involved in the incident. The man, who identified himself only as Tyler, alleged the fight was started by the person wearing the "Black Guns Matter" shirt.

Tyler told the station that the man in the shirt was with two others who were all booing Sanders' speech. Tyler claimed that when he tried to record the men booing, the man in the "Black Guns Matter" shirt shoved him through the metal barrier and he retaliated in response.

A person who identified himself as the man wearing the shirt told CBS Denver that Tyler was the one who prompted the incident.

The man, who said he is African American but declined to give him name, told the station that Tyler "had a problem with the shirt I was wearing."

"I was recording the event, he walks up and calls me a racist. But I thought, 'What's he know about black lives, about discrimination, or, for that matter, the representation of the shirt?'" the unidentified man said.

The man, who said he bought the shirt at a concealed carry class, claimed that black people's ability to own firearms "has historically been very restricted" in the U.S.

CBS Denver reported that neither of the men involved in the fight were removed from the rally, but security guards told them to stay away from each other.

The fight didn't appear to hinder Sanders' speech, however. Sanders targeted rival Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg, saying he wanted to end the "corrupt" system in which billionaires can buy elections.

"We're going to end a corrupt political system in which billionaires buy elections," Sanders said, according to The Denver Post. "Democracy, to me, means one person, one vote. Not Bloomberg or anybody else spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to buy an election."

A representative for Sanders has been contacted for comment.

Sanders rally
Bernie Sanders greets supporters after a campaign rally in Denver, Colorado on February 16, 2020. Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images

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