At the #MarchForBernie in Union Square on Saturday, one woman named April had an interesting sign unlike any other at the rally.
April said the phrase “you have a right to be happy” had become her personal slogan since she survived a brutal rape that changed the way she thought about politics and life in general.
The crime left her traumatized and with a stack of medical bills that put her into poverty. It was then that she became an advocate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the fight for universal healthcare.
“A Medicare-For-All system doesn’t abandon victims and survivors of rape,” she told Red Alert via e-mail. “Obamacare isn’t perfect and Sen. Sanders wants to revolutionize and evolve how Americans live protected by healthcare because we, Sen. Sanders and his supporters believe healthcare to be a human right.”
When asked if she would support Hillary Clinton if Sanders did not become the Democratic nominee she said that there was no way she could support a candidate that silenced the women Bill Clinton raped.
“Hillary is not pro-women’s rights,” April said to Red Alert Politics. “A lot of people don’t want to talk about this, and I don’t want to be an attacker and slam her but it bothers me as a woman who was raped and sexually molested in the workplace. Her husband is a sexual predator, there is proof of that.”
“He has sexually harassed and abused, and there are reports of him raping Juanita Broaddrick — and Hillary silenced those women,” the Sanders supporter continued.
April said she would write in Sanders’ name if Clinton was the nominee.
“There’s no way I will ever vote for Hillary Clinton,” April said. “I’m not going to be fear-mongered any longer, I’ve been fear-mongered to keep silent for too long.”
Watch the powerful interview, in full:
