Kamala Harris compares Ferguson riots to Battle of Gettysburg in MLK Day speech

The vice president said both events were examples of Americans fighting to "make the promise of freedom real."

"I do believe the true power behind the promise of America is in the faith of her people," Harris said at the NAACP South Carolina State Conference's King Day at the Dome event on Monday. "The promise of America, I do believe, is in the faith of the people – our faith in the founding principles of our nation and our profound commitment to make those principles real."

"Generation after generation, on the fields of Gettysburg, in the schools of Little Rock, on the grounds of this state house, on the streets of Ferguson, and on the floor of the Tennessee House of Representatives, we the people have always fought to make the promise of freedom real."

The 1863 Battle of Gettysburg ended the Civil War, securing victory for the north and dashing general Robert E. Lee and his Confederate crew's hopes of becoming a separate nation. Tens of thousands on both sides were killed or wounded in the historic battle, which set the country on a path towards the abolition of slavery two years later.

This event, Harris appeared to suggest, was equivalent to the 2014 riots in Ferguson, Missouri which were sparked by the death of black teenager Michael Brown at the hands of a white police officer who was later acquitted.

The riots, which took place following Brown's death in August and then again following the court's decision not to indict the officer three months later, resulted in widespread vandalism, arson, and looting. Over 300 people were arrested.