Video Shows What Really Happened During "English Only" Dispute at Nevada Caucus
A dispute over allegations of xenophobic comments at a Nevada caucus site on Saturday has spiraled into a nasty back-and-forth between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, but newly emerged video reveals what really occurred.
Dolores Huerta, a civil rights leader and prominent Clinton supporter, accused Sanders supporters at Harrah's Las Vegas Hotel and Casino of chanting "English only!" and refusing to allow her to translate caucus instructions for Spanish-speaking attendees.
The actress America Ferrera also tweeted the allegation, which was quickly circulated by staffers on the Clinton campaign:
However, a somewhat choppy recording of the caucus proceedings that was broadcast on Ustream shows that Sanders supporters did not chant "English only" when objecting to the idea of Huerta translating caucus instructions. Rather, the only instance of "English only" that can be heard on the recording is spoken by the precinct chair.
What happened: In the video, the conflict begins with an observer in the back of the room shouting to the chairman, asking for someone who can translate for those who don't speak English.
"People don't speak English," the woman says. "Can we have a Spanish translator with you? Spanish?"
The chairman agrees, and asks, "Who is a Spanish speaker?" Caucusgoers can be heard saying, "Dolores." The chairman says that the first person who speaks Spanish who gets on the stage can translate. At this point, Huerta begins to make her way to the stage, and someone can be heard yelling, "She's a surrogate! She's a surrogate!"
The chairman urges calm, and a solution: "The fact is that I bet half of this room is fluent in Spanish. Is that correct? The point being is that anything she says, you're going to be able to see if she says anything that's pro-Hillary, right?"
This is met with further objections, with someone yelling, "Absolutely not." Another woman can be heard saying, "You're being videotaped."
At this point, the chairman says, "We're moving forward in English only," which is met with applause. "If somebody next to you is not English-speaking, please make sure that you're next to them and can easily translate," he says.
With that, the caucus moves on.
Watch the whole clip here: