Hillary Clinton Met With the Mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Others 

By Stassa Edwards  |  November 4, 2015 | 12:47am
Politics

On Monday, Hillary Clinton held a meeting with the mothers of four black teenagers who were killed by police and racially-motivated gun-related violence.

The two-hour meeting, which Clinton tweeted about earlier today, included the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Jordan Davis. The 17-year-old Martin was killed in a Florida suburb in 2012. Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri last year. The 12-year-old Rice was also killed by a police officer in Cleveland, and Davis was gunned down by an angry motorist in Jacksonville, Florida. Of those four, only Davis’ killer was convicted (he’s currently serving 90 years for killing a teenager over loud music).

Their mothers came together after the deaths of their sons, forming what they call a “motherhood.” That “motherhood” sat down with Clinton at a Chicago cafe where they discussed her plans for both criminal justice reform and gun control.

CNN reports:

According to the women, Clinton did not make any explicit promises to them, but did pledge to stay engaged in their causes and work on criminal justice reform. All of the women described the meeting as productive and said Clinton appeared earnest and trustworthy.
“She is a mother and she is a woman and I felt she understood where we were coming from,” said Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice. “It doesn’t matter what color we are, I felt that she really understand where we are coming from.”

The meeting came days after Black Lives Matter protesters interrupted one of Clinton’s rallies at Clark Atlanta University. Leaders of the movement have criticized Clinton for failing to come up with comprehensive plans on criminal justice reform.

While neither the motherhood nor Clinton’s camp provided details of the meeting Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, said, “It was a very powerful meeting.”

Image of Sybrina Fulton via AP.

 
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