Bernie Sanders to Visit Mississippi for Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination

By Brett Samuels, The Hill

29 March 18

en. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will speak next week at an event in Jackson, Miss., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Clarion Ledger reported Wednesday that Sanders will join Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba for a town hall-style event on April 4. The gathering is titled “Examining Economic Justice 50 Years Later.”

Sanders hosted a digital town hall meeting last week focused on economic inequality. Sanders's event, titled “Inequality in America: The Rise of Oligarchy and Collapse of the Middle Class," was streamed live on Monday and drew 1.7 million viewers, HuffPost reported.

Sanders ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, and is considered a potential nominee for 2020.

Lumumba has spoken out against President Trump, particularly when the president announced in December he would visit the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum later that month.

"President Trump and the policies he espouses are disrespectful to the legacy and history that is to be portrayed in this museum," Lumumba said in response to the announcement.

Despite pushback from African-American leaders, Trump ultimately attended the museum's opening, praising those involved in the Civil Rights movement.