A protester interrupted a Bernie Sanders rally with a Nazi flag

(Image credit: Laura Segall/AFP via Getty Images)

published 6 March 2020

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) held his first rally since Super Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday night. There were "multiple incidents involving protesters, including one who waved a large flag with a swastika on it," BuzzFeed's Ruby Cramer reported from the venue. "The man was immediately removed." Sanders campaign spokesman Mike Casca said "the senator is aware of the flag with the swastika on it and is disturbed by it." Sanders, who would be the first Jewish president, did not see the flag at the time but was told about it afterward, Casca added.

Neither Sanders nor his remaining Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, have Secret Service protection. Major presidential candidates and their running mates automatically get Secret Service protection 120 days before the general election, but many candidates get it much earlier — President Trump requested a Secret Service detail in October 2015, USA Today notes.

The decision to assign Secret Service protection is made by the Homeland Security secretary, in consultation with congressional leaders. On Wednesday, after protesters stormed the stage where Biden was speaking, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) requested that acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf assign Secret Service protection to both Sanders and Biden. "We stand ready to execute if recommended" by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Heather Swift replied. She added that as of Wednesday night, neither candidate had requested such protection.