Hillary Clinton meets with mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown
On Monday, Hillary Clinton met with the families of several African-American teenagers and children who died in shootings to discuss their experiences and her plans for "commonsense" gun control.
Clinton spent more than two hours in Chicago meeting with more than a dozen mothers who lost their children to gun violence, including the mothers of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old killed in 2012 in Florida by former neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman; Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old killed in a 2014 shooting that started with a complaint about loud music; Michael Brown, the 18-year-old killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in a shooting that sparked unrest in the town; and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old shot and killed by police in Cleveland while carrying an airsoft gun.
Clinton's campaign says that as president, Clinton would "act on gun violence and will work to improve relations between law enforcement officials and the communities they serve." She also believes "commonsense gun reforms" like background checks for online sales and closing certain loopholes will keep guns "out of the hands of the criminals and the violently unstable," the campaign added. While Clinton didn't make any promises, the women told CNN, she did say she would work on criminal justice reform. "She is a mother and she is a woman and I felt she understood where we are coming from," Samaria Rice, Tamir Rice's mother, told CNN. "It doesn't matter what color we are, I felt that she really understood where we are coming from." Later, Clinton tweeted she was "grateful to spend time today with mothers who have lost a child to violence and turned their grief into a national call to action."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
The Onion is having a very ironic laugh with Infowars
The Explainer The satirical newspaper is purchasing the controversial website out of bankruptcy
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'Rahmbo, back from Japan, will be looking for a job? Really?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What's next for electric vehicles under Trump?
Today's Big Question And what does that mean for Tesla's Elon Musk?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ demands changes at 'abhorrent' Atlanta jail
Speed Read Georgia's Fulton County Jail subjects inmates to 'unconstitutional' conditions, the 16-month investigation found
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
China tries to bury deadly car attack
Speed Read An SUV drove into a crowd of people in Zhuhai, killing and injuring dozens — but news of the attack has been censored
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Menendez brothers may go free in LA prosecutor plan
Speed Read Prosecutors are asking for the brothers to be resentenced for the 1989 murder of their parents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Abercrombie ex-CEO charged with sex crimes
Speed Read Mike Jeffries ran the brand during its heyday from 1992 to 2014
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Father of alleged Georgia school shooter arrested
Speed Read The 14-year-old's father was arrested in connection with the deaths of two teachers and two students
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump criminal trial starts with rulings, reminder
Speed Read The first day of his historic trial over hush money payments was mostly focused on jury selection
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published