Debbie Wasserman Schultz Drowned Out by Democratic Party Hecklers

The scene was a troubling display of tumult for Democrats a day after the party’s chief announced her resignation amid an email controversy.

Democrats heckled outgoing party chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz with boos and cries of “Shame!” on Monday as the party tried to move past an embarrassing email controversy and heal divisions before this week’s national convention begins.

In her first remarks since announcing her resignation on Sunday, the Florida congresswoman struggled to be heard in her Monday morning address before her home-state delegation. Some delegates, apparently disappointed supporters of her primary rival, Bernie Sanders, jeered and waved signs reading “Thanks for the ‘help,’ Debbie,” and more simply, “E-mail.”

Her supporters pushed back, standing on chairs and yelling at Mr. Sanders’s supporters to step back or sit down.

Ms. Wasserman Schultz tried to shout over the raucous crowd, saying, “We have to make sure that we move together in a unified way!”

The scene was a troubling display of tumult for Democrats who awoke Monday to a firestorm over hacked party emails. The correspondence appeared to show top officials at the supposedly neutral Democratic National Committee favoring Hillary Clinton in the presidential primaries against Mr. Sanders.

The embarrassing emails, posted by WikiLeaks over the weekend, have exposed a rift that threatens to undermine Democrats’ focus on putting Clinton in the White House.

The party announced Monday it would kick off its convention with speeches from some of its most popular figures. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive favorite, would deliver the convention keynote. Sanders and first lady Michelle Obama will also take the stage.

The kickoff lineup had long been intended to appeal to the party’s restive liberal wing, but that task has become unexpectedly urgent by the trove of 19,000 leaked emails.

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