Hillary Clinton had a combative run-in with Black Lives Matter activists after a campaign event in New Hampshire.
The activists had previously tried to storm and disrupt the event but were barred by Clinton’s staff and led to an overflow room to watch the speech. After the event, Clinton spoke with the activists for 15 minutes, during which the Democratic front-runner first attempted to stress common ground with the activists by pledging her support to the movement. But when the activists seemed dissatisfied, the talk became more confrontational.
“You can get lip service from as many white people you can pack into Yankee Stadium and a million more like it who are going to say, ‘We get it, we get it. We are going to be nicer.’ That’s not enough, at least in my book,” Clinton said to the activists.
She went on to explain that she believed that the movement needed clear policy goals in order to get the rest of the country on board, stating that it isn’t enough to try and “change hearts,” and instead she wants to focus on changing policy. The Black Lives Matter activists objected, saying that Clinton was still “victim blaming” as “this has always been a white problem of violence” against blacks.
“Respectfully, if that is your position, then I will talk only to white people about how we are going to deal with the very real problems,” Clinton retorted.
Black Lives Matter activists have interrupted Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders events on the campaign trail this past month, causing disruption but also adding energy to the movement.
