Former Bernie Sanders campaign surrogate Ja'Mal Green attacked the campaign's leadership Monday, alleging widespread mistreatment of black surrogates.
The 24-year-old Black Lives Matter activist claimed that campaign officials Heather Gautney and Shasti Conrad "ran the surrogate team into the ground & treated us black surrogates like they [sic] were slaves."
Y’all want to know who else blocked me, @heathergautney. She is the national surrogate director for @BernieSanders. Her & @ShastiConrad ran the surrogate team into the ground & treated us black surrogates like they were slaves. What nerve to block me cuz I criticized the camp.
— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) April 6, 2020
Gautney blocked Green on Twitter earlier Monday after the former surrogate published a statement saying he was asked to leave the Sanders campaign because his "tolerance level for racism is low" and his tweets "tell too much of the truth." Green later deleted his statement, stating he wished to protect a staff member.
Green called Gautney's decision to block him "disgusting" and said he would release damaging information. In a series of tweets, he has since disclosed conversations with staffers who also said the campaign has a racism problem.
This how they feel about me going to the internet. Even though shit is not great and they treated us like shit, I should keep my mouth shut. pic.twitter.com/bkYVgHmmKg
— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) April 6, 2020
Another major black surrogate. Y’all go tell @heathergautney & Obama’s @ShastiConrad they should’ve never ran a surrogate team treating black surrogates like the help. More receipts coming. Don’t trip pic.twitter.com/13lN9tBZWx
— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) April 6, 2020
Green argued black staffers felt marginalized because they could only communicate with Sanders campaign cochair Nina Turner. When people brought this problem up, he said, campaign manager Faiz Shakir silenced them. He heaped blame on Shakir and senior adviser Jeff Weaver for supposedly destroying Sanders's campaign, saying they had "sunk this ship."
Green also implied he had not yet revealed the most damaging information. Neither Green nor the Sanders campaign have responded to the Free Beacon's requests for comment.
Gautney responded to one of Green's tweets, saying that she was only a "policy adviser" and that Green should stop "harassing Shasti."
Green maintained in his statement that he will continue to support Sanders from outside the campaign.