Hillary Clinton on Thursday delivered her first public remarks on the death of Michael Brown, saying her heart broke for the teenager’s family and that Martin Luther King Jr.’s calls for racial equality are “as fiercely urgent today” as they were 50 years ago.
“We can do better. We cannot ignore the inequalities that exist in our justice system, inequalities that undermine our most deeply held values of fairness and equality,” Clinton said during a speech in San Francisco.
Brown was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9. The black teenager’s death resulted in protests and violent clashes with heavily armed police. The potential 2016 presidential candidate said she applauded President Obama for sending Attorney General Eric Holder to Missouri to oversee the investigation.
“It was 51 years ago today that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called us to live out the true meaning of our creed to make the dream real for all americans,” she said. “And that mission is as fiercely urgent today as when he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.”
-- Andrew Rafferty
