Thousands of Utahns welcomed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to Salt Lake City Friday.
The Democratic presidential candidate touched on familiar topics.
“You want a radical idea?” Sanders said. “We’re going to invest in education and jobs for our young people, not jails and incarceration.”
Sanders called for campaign finance reform and making corporations like Wal-Mart pay employees a living wage. He also touched on a topic that hits close to home in Utah. He asked for more accountability for police officers involved in killing or injuring unarmed citizens. He mentioned Abdi Muhammed, the teenager who was shot last month outside a Salt Lake City homeless shelter.
“We need to demilitarize local police departments,” Sanders said. “We need to make police departments look like the diversity of the communities they serve.”
Bridget Gibbons brought her teenage daughter to the Rally.
“I have two daughters,” Gibbons said. “He speaks the most for their future when it comes to environmental issues, healthcare, women’s rights.”
Shawn Bernier said Sanders has history of standing up for disabled veterans like himself. He said Hillary Clinton would not be a good president.
“I think she’s a crook,” Bernier said. “She doesn’t take responsibility for things that have happened under her Secretary of State.”
Currently, Hillary Clinton is favored in southern states, which have already voted. Sanders must win upcoming primary contests in western states to erase Clinton’s lead and become the new front-runner for the Democratic nomination.
