Hillary Clinton calls for unity in aftermath of church shooting

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called Thursday for unity in the aftermath of the shootings in South Carolina.

Nine people were killed in an historic black church in Charleston, S.C., on Wednesday night, when a 21-year-old suspect opened fire. The Democratic front-runner also was in Charleston before the shooting Wednesday. She said it broke her heart when she learned of the massacre when she arrived in Las Vegas.

A church is the last place where people should ever see violence, Clinton said. More than 50 years ago, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed in Birmingham, Ala., she said. That happened soon after Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Today is a day to hold each other even closer,” she said at the beginning of her 30-minute talk to about 900 people in Las Vegas.

The country will need to face tough realities in its search for answers, and the country needs to find the answers “together,” she said.

“In the days ahead, we will, once again, ask what led to this terrible tragedy and where we as a nation need to go,” she said, talking to a crowd of Latino officials from across the country. “In order to make sense of it, we need to be honest. We have to face hard truths about race, violence, guns, and vision.”

The Democratic front-runner spoke at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ 32nd annual conference at the Aria. Clinton also touched on the need for universal preschool, early voting and immigration reform.

The former secretary of state then headed to Northern Nevada, where she was scheduled to meet with veterans at Reno’s historic VFW Post 9211 to talk about how to best serve them.

The Latino conference, which is expected to attract about 1,200 people this week, is drawing other presidential candidates. Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, gave a 15-minute speech on Wednesday, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is scheduled to speak today.

Clinton made a connection with Wednesday night’s tragedy and the church bombing in Birmingham more than 50 years ago. After the bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told the families of the four girls who were killed, “You do not walk alone,” Clinton said.

“Today, we say to the families of Emanuel and all the people of Charleston, you do not walk alone,” she said, referring to Wednesday’s shooting at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest A.M.E. church in the South. “You do not walk alone because millions of Americans, regardless of race ... ethnicity or religion, are walking with you in grief, in solidarity, in determination. We are with you and stand with you as we seek answers and take action.”

How many more innocent people in the country have to die, she asked. Clinton pledged to work with local officials, if elected as the country’s next leader.

“Let’s unite in partnership, not just to talk, but to act,” she said.

Before her remarks, Clinton met with blue-collar casino employees. She thanked them for their hard work and determination. It’s that same determination that brought the country back from the recession, she said.

“People are slowly coming up again,” she said. “We are standing again, but we are not yet running the way America should run.”

Later in her speech, Clinton laid out four fights that need to be tackled to make the economy and the country work for all. They include building “an economy for tomorrow, not yesterday,” strengthening America’s families, “harnessing the country’s power and values to lead the world,” and revitalizing “our democracy back here at home.”

“For me, this all goes back to the basic bargain of America,” she said. “If you do your part, you ought to be able to get ahead, and when everybody does his or her part, America gets ahead, too.”

Clinton said she believes success is measured by how many children climb out of poverty not by how much the wealthiest Americans have at the end of the year, and by how many startups and small businesses thrive, not by how “big fat paychecks of CEOs are.”

“I believe success is measured by how many young people go to college without drowning in debt,” she added. “How many people find a good job with good benefits. How many families stay strong and thrive.”

On Monday, while in New Hampshire, Clinton announced that she plans to make preschool and quality child care available for every child in the country.

“Too many children are starting up behind,” she said. Especially those who come from financially struggling families.

Clinton would also like to see voting become easier, as opposed to putting up new barriers to make it more difficult for young people, people of color and the elderly to vote.

“That’s why I’ve called for more early voting and for universal voting registration when a youngster turns 18 in America,” she said.

If elected president, Clinton also pledged to continue to fight for comprehensive immigration reform with a real path to citizenship for families.

“As I’ve said recently in Las Vegas, if Congress continues to refuse to act, as president, I will do everything possible under the law to go even further than what President (Barack) Obama has attempted to achieve,” she told the crowd.

The former U.S. senator and first lady’s visit to Nevada is part of the official launch of her presidential run, which she began in New York City earlier this month with a speech. Her visit to the Silver State is also part of a swing through all four early primary and caucus states.

Clinton also toured Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this month.

During her last visit to Las Vegas May 5, she spoke to a small group at Rancho High School, where she promised that, if elected, she would seek a “full and equal path to citizenship” for immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440. Find her on Twitter: @YeseniaAmaro