An attendee wears a Black Lives Matter T-shirt while standing in the crowd ahead of a campaign event with Hillary Clinton in Columbus on Oct. 10. (Ty Wright/Bloomberg)
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Hillary Clinton will meet with Black Lives Matter activists in Cleveland on Friday, according to a campaign aide.
The gathering is the second time that Clinton will meet with Brittany Packnett, who is one of the founders of Campaign Zero, which was spawned by protests in Ferguson, Mo. And it is also her second meeting with Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson, who is also a co-founder of Campaign Zero.
Clinton has spoken out about criminal justice issues and has called for reforms, including national guidelines for the use of force by police.
But early in her candidacy, Clinton was confronted by Black Lives Matter in a tense conversation offstage at one of her events. She has also been criticized for using the term “super predators” to describe violent urban youth when she was first lady in the 1990s. Clinton has since said that she regrets using that terminology.
[For young black activists, an urgent task: Persuading peers to vote]
Packnett has endorsed Clinton but other figures in the movement, like McKesson and Alicia Garza, have withheld their endorsements.
The meeting will take place on Friday ahead of a campaign event in Cleveland.