PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders told Maine Democrats on Sunday that “police murder is an outrage” and said that creating a system that values the dignity of all people “starts with justice for George Floyd.”

The former Democratic presidential candidate told a “virtual rally” that the Department of Justice should conduct an independent investigation of all police killings, including the death of Floyd, an African American man, in Minneapolis.

The killing has prompted successive nights of mass demonstrations across the country.

The 2020 state convention was supposed to be held over the weekend in Bangor but was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.