Bernie Sanders Fires Up Connecticut Crowd

NEW HAVEN, CT - Bernie Sanders brought his message of equality for all to a charged crowd of more than 10,000 people on the New Haven Green Sunday night.

He spoke for about an hour to the energetic crowd with only one pause to help direct medical personnel to a person who passed out in the crowd.

Sanders began his speech to the packed Green by ripping the current system and the concentrated wealth.

He specifically criticized the Walton family which owns more than half of Walmart for paying its workers low wages that can force them to rely on food stamps.

“I say to the Walton family, get off of welfare, pay your workers a living wage,” he said.

New Haven is a metaphor for much of America, Sanders said. Yale University is one of the most renowned universities in the world with a multi-billion dollar endowment, but blocks away city residents struggle to make ends meet and more than 30 percent of children live in poverty.

Sanders said that if the nation wanted to survive from a moral standpoint it has to make a commitment to revitalize inner cities.

He showed no signs of slowing down his criticism of Hillary Clinton and said unlike her he hasn’t raised $15 million from Wall Street donors. He also joked that he would reveal the transcripts of his paid Wall Street speaking engagements in New Haven.

“Shh’ there it goes,” he said to a crowd filled with laughter.

He spoke of how the country needs to invest in mental health care and how heroin has ravaged Connecticut and his home state of Vermont.

“Addiction and substance abuse must be seen as a health issue and not a criminal issue,” he said.

Sanders wasn’t afraid to take a jab at Gov. Dannel Malloy either over his proposals to cut social services in his new budget proposal.

“I'm not quite sure why your governor has cut mental health treatment in Connecticut,” he said.

The Vermont senator spent much of his hour-long speech talking about the state of education in the country and how public colleges and universities should have free tuition. He said other countries have realized the importance of investing in education and that students shouldn’t be punished with mounds of debt for getting a good education.

About 9,000 people were cleared by security for the event and several thousand more stood outside the security perimeter, according to the New Haven Office of Emergency Operations.

Sanders urged Connecticut to have its biggest Democrat presidential primary turnout in history. He said he typically wins primaries when there is a high voter turnout and loses when it is low.

State Sen. Gary Holder-Winfield spoke at the podium and said campaign finance reform in Connecticut allowed him to run against the New Haven political machine and win. He worked on several prominent issues including abolishing the death penalty in the state and said many people told him he was dreaming when it came to his political goals.

"Dream tonight for a win in Connecticut for Bernie Sanders that they say can't happen."

Campaign finance reform is one of the Sanders campaign's main issues.

"He's the best candidate overall he is focused on real social changes that need to happen," New Haven resident Kyisha Velaquez said. "If he can walk our neighborhoods like Dixwell and Newhallville, it shows he cares."

Velasquez said she hopes more people would register as Democrats as that would likely benefit Sanders.

Related: Connecticut Democratic Primary 2016: Poll Results Show Lead For Hillary Clinton

With Clinton leading the pledged delegate count by nearly 250, according to AP's delegate tracker, Sanders needs to win 78 percent of the remaining delegates available to secure the Democratic presidential nomination.

Tuesday's primary comes just one week after Clinton handed Sanders a crushing double-digit loss in New York. Voters in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Rhode Island will also head to the polls Tuesday. Pennsylvania is the biggest prize on Tuesday offering 210 delegates.

Images Taken at Scene of Rally by Rich Scinto