Clinton weighs in on Baltimore riots at New York donor event

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday offered her most extensive comments yet on the unrest in Baltimore, saying “Baltimore is burning” while she spoke at a campaign fundraising event in Manhattan.

“It is heartbreaking,” Clinton said, one night after rioting and looting hit the city, leading to dozens of arrests and at least 20 injured police officers. “The tragic death of another young African-American man. The injuries to police officers. The burning of peoples’ homes and small businesses. We have to restore order and security. But then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system.”


The former secretary of state’s remarks came less than 24 hours after she tweeted that she was “praying for peace & safety for all in Baltimore, & for Freddie Gray’s family — his death is a tragedy that demands answers.” They also came just a day before she will urge that the country “end the era of mass incarceration,” and will call for every police department in the country to have body cameras, in a speech at Columbia University.

Clinton will also “discuss the hard truth and fundamental unfairness in our country that today African-American men are far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms,” according to an aide.

The Democratic front-runner published an essay on criminal justice through the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law earlier on Tuesday, declaring, “We can stand up together and say: Yes, black lives matter. Yes, the government should serve and protect all of our people. Yes, our country is strongest when everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream.”

Her comments Tuesday were in front of an audience of her political contributors, at her third fundraising event of the day.

Clinton also used the occasion to run through some of the emerging planks of her White House run.

Referring to unaccountable political money — a subject she regularly raises during campaign stops — Clinton called 2010’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which directly concerned a film about her, “one of the worst decisions the Supreme Court ever made.”

She said the decision effectively decided, “‘It’s a First Amendment right, disclosure will take care of that. Put the billionaires — line them up on both sides — and then you just disclose their money.’ That’s not the way the world works.”

Clinton then turned to her own fundraising effort, which is widely expected to raise around $2 billion when coupled with independent super PACs supporting her White House bid.

The former New York senator, who has a number of allies on Wall Street, said her campaign’s goal of raising $100 million during the primaries is “certainly within reach.”

The Tuesday events in New York were the first Clinton personally attended since formally launching her White House bid earlier this month, and they were hosted by a handful of prominent names in financial circles. Her comments on Baltimore and political money came at the home of Doug Teitelbaum — an investor — and his wife, Agatha.

Clinton’s team is constructing a bundler program so that contributors known as “Hillstarters” each gather 10 separate donations of $2,700, and the campaign was expected to raise about $1 million between the three events on Tuesday.

Clinton is expected to continue raising campaign funds in New York, Washington and California in the coming weeks.