Protesters with a local Black Lives Matter group disrupted an event being held in Des Moines, Iowa, by former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) on Sunday.
Videos showed demonstrators wearing Black Lives Matter shirts being led out by security while chanting “anti-black, anti-poor,” apparently referring to Buttigieg. Earlier, they had engaged in a brief discussion with the presidential candidate from the audience during his speech onstage.
It was unclear initially whether the group of protesters was affiliated officially with the national Black Lives Matter organization, as there are no Iowa chapters listed on the organization’s website.
The disruption comes just days after a Buttigieg campaign event in California was visited by roughly a dozen Black Lives Matter protesters, several of whom told the Los Angeles Times they were from Buttigieg’s hometown of South Bend. Those protesters added that their travel was funded by an outside group, though they clarified they were not funded by any presidential campaigns.
Buttigieg’s campaign declined further comment on the protests when contacted by The Hill.