Bill Clinton

Watch Bill Clinton Accuse Black Lives Matter of Defending Gang Leaders, Child Murderers

'You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter.'

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Bill Clinton
Screenshot via Yolanda Estaban / Youtube

Former President Bill Clinton went after Black Lives Matter protesters who repeatedly interrupted him while he was giving a speech in Philadelphia on Thursday. Clinton defended Hillary's long-ago comments about "superpredators," said welfare reform was good for the black community, and—most notably—accused Black Lives Matter of sticking up for gang leaders and child murderers. 

Watch the video footage here

"I don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them on down the street to murder other African American children," said Clinton. "Maybe you thought they were good citizens, she didn't. [Hillary] didn't. You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth." 

Whether Clinton's remarks will damage his wife's outreach efforts to Black Lives Matter remains to be seen. Hillary has said previously that she regrets referring to some black males as superpredators.

For more on Hillary Clinton, criminal justice reform, and the superpredators scare of the 1990s, read Jesse Walker.