Julia Craven, Ryan Grimm, and Ryan J. Reilly, THE HUFFINGTON POST
WASHINGTON (The Huffington Post) — Activists DeRay Mckesson and Brittany Packnett recently spoke with Hillary Clinton’s policy director and others in the Clinton camp about police reform, criminal justice and other issues of importance to the black community, several people familiar with the chat told The Huffington Post.
The conversation took place about two weeks ago, sources said, and included at least one other figure from the Black Lives Matter movement besides Mckesson and Packnett. Over the past year, Mckesson — a former teacher and school administrator in Minneapolis — has become one of the most visible Black Lives Matter activists and has documented protests across the country. Packnett, a Teach For America executive and former congressional staffer, is a member of both the Ferguson Commission in Missouri and President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
The O’Malley, Sanders, & Clinton campaigns have reached out to the movement to engage in listening & conversation re: policy/platforms.
— deray mckesson (@deray) August 10, 2015
Mckesson has been openly critical of various presidential candidates, and has sought to hold them accountable for the way they’ve seldom addressed the unique issues facing black Americans. After attending Clinton’s official 2016 presidential campaign announcement in June, Mckesson left the event feeling underwhelmed.
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