Bernie backers storm Philly as Sanders calls to support Clinton

Bernie Sanders supporters, who marched across a bridge from New Jersey into Philadelphia in the sweltering heat, have arrived in the City of Brotherly Love ahead of the Democratic convention. 

About 100 marchers chanting, “We are the 99 percent,” have made their way across the Ben Franklin Bridge and spilled onto the Philadelphia side. 

They plan to meet up with a rally at Philadelphia’s City Hall.  The group will then march down Broad Street toward a park across the street from where the convention begins late Monday. 

The heat wave hasn’t keep protesters away from Monday’s rallies, but Police Commissioner Richard Ross is urging marchers to be careful and not overestimate their abilities.  Temperatures are in the high 90s but feel more like 105 degrees. 

Organizer Gary Frazier had said if the crowd is big enough, they’d try to shut down traffic on the bridge. 

Frazier says the goal is to get the convention to nominate Sanders for president.  He says if that doesn’t happen, there will be a push to withdraw Sanders supporters from the Democratic Party. 

But inside the convention hall, Bernie Sanders calls on delegates to back Hillary Clinton, and calls Donald Trump a demagogue. 

Sanders says that Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s departure from the Democratic National Committee will “open the doors of the party to people who want real change.” 

To roaring cheers from delegates in Philadelphia, Sanders also touted progressive wins in the Democratic party platform and over future nominating rules.  Many of his supporters — frustrated by the primary process and the recent leaked emails from Democratic party officials — have been threatening protests at the DNC. 

Sanders says his supporters should continue to push for the “transformation of American society.” 

— AP