Hillary Clinton is campaigning Wednesday with the mother of Sandra Bland, the Chicago-area woman who was discovered hanged in her jail cell three days after being pulled over for a traffic stop in Texas.
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Geneva Reed-Veal is joining the Democratic presidential candidate at a voter mobilization event.
Bland’s death has become a symbol of the racial inequalities in the criminal justice system. Her family, black leaders and other activists have questioned her treatment by white law enforcement officers and the determination she committed suicide.
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Clinton and challenger Bernie Sanders are trying to boost their support among minority voters ahead of contests in South Carolina and Nevada, where African-Americans and Latino voters make up a sizable part of the electorate, with “Super Tuesday” contests looming next week.
Reed-Veal spoke out after a grand jury declined to present charges in her daughter’s July death. Brian Encinia, the trooper who shouted “I will light you up” after pulling her over, was only indicted on a misdemeanor charge of perjury.
“I want to see true justice happen here,” Reed-Veal said at a January press conference.
Relatives of victims of public incidents — including the mother and daughter of police chokehold victim Eric Garner — have expressed support for the Democratic challengers.
Gwen Carr, Garner’s mother, wrote a letter of endorsement for Clinton, while his daughter Erica was featured in a Sanders ad focusing on civil rights.
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A recent CNN/ORC poll shows Clinton holding a commanding lead — 65% to 28% — among black voters in South Carolina.
Clinton appeared alongside politicians in Harlem Tuesday, slamming Republicans’ refusal to consider President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee as “a blast from the Jim Crow past.”
Sanders and Clinton both met with Rev. Al Sharpton recently, but Sharpton has yet to endorse a candidate.
Sanders has picked up a number of endorsements from notable black figures, including rapper Killer Mike and former NAACP Chief Ben Jealous.
At a Tuesday prayer breakfast featuring black ministers and Erica Garner, Sanders pledged to reduce income inequality and break up big financial institutions, but also stressed criminal justice reform and voting rights and reflected on the country’s racial history.
“It is clear to everybody that we still have a long, long way to go,” he said.
With News Wire Services
