#BlackLivesMatter Protesters Blocked from Hillary Event, End Up Meeting with Her
Black Lives Matter Boston protesters targeted a Hillary Clinton event in New Hampshire today and ended up getting a closed-door meeting with the candidate herself.
The activists let it be known ahead of time they would be trying to disrupt the Clinton event, but were unable to get in the room (as opposed to how easy it was for protesters to hijack a Bernie Sanders rally just days ago).
Eventually, the BLM Boston protesters managed to get an audience with Clinton:
Huge thanks to everyone tweeting about #HollupHillary action. We've gotten the attention of @HillaryClinton's staff & they are working w us.
— BlackLivesMatterBOS (@BLM_Boston) August 11, 2015
After her substance abuse event here in Keene, Clinton will shortly meet with the #BlackLivesMatter protestors who didn't make it in earlier
— Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) August 11, 2015
Initially, members of the press were to be allowed in the room, but then weren’t, and it was a little unclear what happened:
To be clear, pooled media will be in the room for the meeting. https://t.co/kFuu16M5W7
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) August 11, 2015
Nick Merrill, Clinton's spokesman, now tells the pool that the #BlackLivesMatter protestors have asked media not be let into the meeting.
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) August 11, 2015
Clinton spox clarifies: They had a photoline in overflow. #BLM asked the videographer to turn off camera & photog not to take pictures (1/3)
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) August 11, 2015
#BLM activists said they "didn't want others recording [what] they said in conversation with Clinton, per campaign. (2/3)
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) August 11, 2015
Given that request, campaign wasn't going "to march a group of press in the room to record and video," says spox on #BLM. (3/3)
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) August 11, 2015
Organizers told The New Republic before they met with Clinton that they wanted to speak with her about her support of policies “which instituted draconian penalties for drug possession and abuse at the same time they funnel money away from anti-poverty programs and into hyper-militarization of urban police forces and the institution of white supremacist police profiling policies.”
So how did it go?
"I didn't hear a reflection on her part in perpetuating white supremacist violence." pic.twitter.com/LV2RdHFx9D
— Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) August 11, 2015
The protesters said Hillary's answer were "similar" to what they've heard from other candidates "in that it is a political response."
— Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) August 11, 2015
[image via screengrab]
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