Nevada Democratic chairwoman says Bernie Sanders owes her an apology

The chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party called on Sen. Bernie Sanders Tuesday to publicly apologize for his supporters’ unruly and violent behavior at Saturday's state party convention.

Roberta Lange said on CNN she’s receiving threats “every one to two seconds” after Sanders supporters, protesting convention results that favored Hillary Clinton, tossed chairs, rushed the convention stage and yelled for her death from the crowd. Clinton, who won Nevada’s Feb. 20 caucus, picked up seven more pledged delegates during the proceedings and Sanders gained five.

“I’ve not received an apology, " Lange told CNN. "I’ve not received anything form the Sanders campaign. I haven’t seen anything that said this should stop. It’s going to continue unless people are made to feel like this isn’t OK.”

Sanders issued a statement Tuesday condemning “any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals.”

But he said his campaign also has been the target of violence.

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“Months ago, during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into my campaign office in Nevada and apartment housing complex my campaign staff lived in was broken into and ransacked,” his statement said.

Sanders said the convention chair treated his delegates unfairly. Among the reasons, the chair didn’t allow for a head count on the convention rules and refused to accept petitions for amendments to rules that were properly submitted.

“If the Democratic Party is to be successful in November, it is imperative that all state parties treat our campaign supporters with fairness and the respect that they have earned,” he said in his statement. "I am happy to say that has been the case at state conventions in Maine, Alaska, Colorado and Hawaii where good discussions were held and democratic decisions were reached. Unfortunately, that was not the case at the Nevada convention. At that convention the Democratic leadership used its power to prevent a fair and transparent process from taking place.”

On Monday, the Nevada state party sent a formal complaint to the Democratic National Committee about the conduct of Sanders’ supporters at the state convention and the conduct of Sanders’ campaign staff.

“We believe, unfortunately, that the tactics and behavior on display here in Nevada are harbingers of things to come as Democrats gather in Philadelphia in July for our National Convention,” Bradley Schrager, the state party’s general counsel wrote. “We write to alert you to what we perceive as the Sander Campaign’s penchant for extra-parliamentary behavior—indeed, actual violence—in place of democratic conduct in a convention setting.”

Sanders called that accusation “nonsense.”

“Our campaign has held giant rallies all across this country, including in high-crime areas, and there have been zero reports of violence,” he said in his statement.

DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, responding to Schrager's letter, expressed deep concern and said she would reach out to the leadership of both campaigns "to ask them to stand with the Democratic Party in denouncing and taking steps to prevent the type of behavior on display over the weekend in Las Vegas."

"Our democracy is undermined any time threats, intimidation, physical violence or damage to property are present. If there are legitimate concerns, they must be addressed in an orderly, civil and peaceful manner.