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In January 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' civil rights activism during his college years became a matter of dispute following a rumor -- proved to be false -- that an iconic photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. leading the famous 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama captured a young Sanders among the marchers. Soon afterwards, another photograph emerged that was said to show Sanders speaking to students on the first day of a sit-in at the University of Chicago in 1962: This picture, too, was disclaimed by multiple sources as one that pictured not Sanders himself, but someone who superficially resembed Sanders. Jonathan Capehart, for exampled, authored a Washington Post blog entry titled Stop sending around this photo of 'Bernie Sanders' in which he declared that’s not Bernie Sanders in the photo. It is Bruce Rappaport, referencing an article on the subject from TIME magazine: This wasn't just a case of misattribution by some anonymous detached onlooker viewing a photograph years after the fact and deciding that one the persons pictured looked like the Vermont senator -- Sanders himself had long been using the picture as part of his biographical material: Prominent civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (who suffered injuries during the Selma march) also cast doubt on the attribution when he offered comment on the civil rights movement and averred that he never saw or met Sanders during the course of his own activism: Supporters of Sanders were quick to respond with other photographic examples of the candidate engaged in activism during the civil rights era. One was an image of a young Sanders chained to a black woman during housing protests, and another depicted him vigorously resisting arrest: Capehart published a follow-up blog post, that included objections raised by photographer Danny Lyon (who snapped the disputed picture) but stopped short of retracting his original claim. Lyon described Capehart's earlier piece as outrageous, saying that the image in question was part of a larger set and undeniably depicted Sanders, not fellow student activist Bruce Rappaport: Lyon's comments were in line with remarks he made about the dispute in a piece published on 2 February 2016: Lyon soon shared more images from his photo set documenting the identification of Sanders, with the photograph on the bottom left in particular bearing a striking resemblance to the 2016 presidential candidated: By contrast, photographs shared by TIME magazine showed clearly marked differences between Rappaport and Sanders: Photographer Danny Lyon said he was well acquainted with the individuals depicted in his photographs: Lyon also published a third post about the controversy detailing his acquaintance with Rep. John Lewis, whom Lyon claimed he convinced shift his endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama: Nonetheless, Capehart wasn't convinced by the evidence and account provided by Lyon, citing Rappaport's former wife, Randy Ross. Ross admitted that Lyon was present for the sit-in in question while she was not but maintained that she recognized Rappaport (who died in 2006) in the photograph: On 13 February 2016, Sanders spokesman Jeff Weaver told the press that the campaign was 100% certain the images were of Bernie Sanders, and Lyon released a larger set of photographs, viewable here. Interest in the controversy was reignited following a late February 2016 endorsement of Sanders by rapper Killer Mike (which featured archival shots of Sanders protesting): Despite the release of additional photographs, multiple statements from Lyon, and a correction appended by the University of Chicago, the original Washington Post blog post remained intact with only a vague update noting that I’ve heard conflicting testimonies from Danny Lyon, the photographer, and Randy Ross, Bruce Rappaport’s ex-wife. However, the release of the additional photographs left little doubt as to whether it was Bernie Sanders depicted in the controversial image.
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