Hillary’s attempt to wrap up the black vote in South Carolina hit a stumbling block Wednesday night when a young Black Lives Matter activists interrupted her speech at a private fundraiser, holding up a handmade sign and demanding Hillary apologize to black people.
The activist identified by the Huffington Post as Ashley Williams unfolded her handmade sign while Hillary’s back was to her. The sign read, “We have to bring them to heel – Hillary Clinton” and also contained the hashtag “#WhichHillary.” Once Hillary took note of the sign Williams said, “We want you to apologize for mass incarcerations. I’m not a super-predator.”
As Hillary tried to engage the topic, Williams interrupted again saying, “You called black people super-predators.” At this point the small crowd became agitated and started shouting at Williams. Clinton seemed to become agitated and snapped, “You want to hear the facts or you just want to talk?” Williams continued challenging Hillary until someone acting as security put his arm around her and walked her out the front door. “Okay, back to the issues,” Hillary continued.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqLfvQfuvsA
Williams protest, which included another person who was holding the camera, garnered some support on Twitter Thursday morning. The hashtage #WhichHillary was trending with over 98,000 tweets from the right and left at this moment. A sample:
https://twitter.com/sanderswillwin/status/702904587548811264
I love #BLM activists courageous questions and conversations they force us all to have. #feelthebern https://t.co/yo30tgn6l9 via youtube
— Ben Jealous (@BenJealous) February 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/ericdoesscience/status/702812696337485824
#WhichHillary the one campaigning for affordable college, or the one paid to give 200K+ speeches to colleges?
— Amber (@NYCdeb8tr) February 25, 2016
This sums it up #WhichHillary pic.twitter.com/ywnwBC2bs7
— Dr Jez Phillips (@drjezphillips) February 25, 2016
.@HillaryClinton: Champion of Mass Incarceration – attempts to undo the damage she caused as 1st Lady. Painfully transparent #WhichHillary
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) February 25, 2016
#WhichHillary really just boils down to the fact that @HillaryClinton would say absolutely anything to get elected.
— Barstool Genius (@barstool_genius) February 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/TardisMechanic1/status/702795630368915456
#WhichHillary is which?
She changes her policy positions more often than her pantsuits.#FlipFlops pic.twitter.com/O1Ok6IvWhu
— 🌹🇺🇸American Australian Berniecrat 🇦🇺🌏 (@OzForBernie) February 25, 2016
Again, these are just a handful of the more popular tweets with the #WhichHillary hashtag. Sanders’ supporters are treating this like a turning point in the campaign. This already seems like something the Clinton campaign is going to need to address today. Finally, here is the 1996 speech in which Hillary talked about “super-predators” and used the phrase “bring them to heel.”
Update: Hillary has apologized for her language in that 1996 speech on crime. Here’s what she told Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post when he asked her for a statement:
In that speech, I was talking about the impact violent crime and vicious drug cartels were having on communities across the country and the particular danger they posed to children and families. Looking back, I shouldn’t have used those words, and I wouldn’t use them today.
My life’s work has been about lifting up children and young people who’ve been let down by the system or by society. Kids who never got the chance they deserved. And unfortunately today, there are way too many of those kids, especially in African-American communities. We haven’t done right by them. We need to. We need to end the school to prison pipeline and replace it with a cradle-to-college pipeline.
As an advocate, as First Lady, as Senator, I was a champion for children. And my campaign for president is about breaking down the barriers that stand in the way of all kids, so every one of them can live up to their God-given potential.
#WhichHillary is still the top trend of the day on Twitter with 247,000 tweets and counting.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member