Hillary Clinton Meets With Trayvon Martin's Mother, Other Moms of Kids Killed by Gun Violence

Former Park Ridge native and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton visited her old Chicago stomping grounds on Monday and met with family members of African-American youths who have died as a result of armed violence and police-related shootings.

In town for three fundraisers, Clinton met privately for two hours at Sweet Maple Cafe, 1339 W. Taylor Street, outlining her plans for criminal justice reform and gun control, Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet reported.

The session included Sabrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen shot to death in 2012 by a neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, who was later acquitted in his death.

Other parents included Lesley McFaddon, mother of Michael Brown, who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO, and Samira Rice, mother of 12-year-old Tamir Rice who was shot to death by a Cleveland police officer, both last year.

Also included in the discussion were two mothers who lost children to armed violence, Joy McCormack, mother of Francisco “Frankie” Valencia, a 21-year-old DePaul University student killed by a gang member in 2009, and Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, a Milwaukee youth shot in 2014. McCormack is the founder and president of Chicago’s Citizens for Change, Inc. and the Chicago Survivors program.

A campaign aide said in a statement that Clinton’s discussion with family members focused on the epidemic of gun violence and common sense gun reforms and the sense distrust that exists between community members and law enforcement.

“During the meeting, Clinton listened as the mothers and families shared their heartbreaking stories and discussed what must be done in order to prevent future incidents like the ones that have taken the lives of their children.”

Last week, Clinton’s campaign was interrupted by members of Black Lives Matter when she rolled out her ideas in Atlanta for criminal justice reform. Her campaign has stated that the former Secretary of State believes that the nation continues to face systemic racism and injustice and that “we have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance.”

Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, emerged from the meeting with Clinton calling it “productive.”

“It was a very powerful meeting, it was powerful,” she told reporters on camera.

After the meeting, the former Secretary of State tweeted: