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| Hillary Clinton meets with families of Sandy Hook victims – campaign live | Hillary Clinton meets with families of Sandy Hook victims – campaign live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 5.39pm BST | |
| 17:39 | |
| Clinton: 'too many guns in this country' | |
| Clinton says she wishes to summarize “the various aspects of the epidemic we are facing.” | |
| Some are rooted in the mental health system, she says. “You see someone suffering from untreated mental health, people back off.” | |
| But another problem is victim blaming she says – or blaming the vicim’s family, or neighborhood. | |
| It’s wrong, Clinton says, to “try to find somebody to blame instead of saying, you know what, we just have too many guns in this country, in the wrong hands and we need to address it.” | |
| 5.36pm BST | |
| 17:36 | |
| “I find it absolutely indefensible, the arguments that are made by people who will not accept responsibility for what is happening in our country,” Clinton says, following a rounsing talk by Melba Marquez-Greene, who lost her 6-year-old daughter Ana Grace in the Sandy Hook shooting. | |
| Clinton says Marquez-Greene gave Clinton the book she and her daughter had been reading the night before the daughter was killed, for Clinton to read to her daughter (or perhaps granddaughter). | |
| “When you take a stand against the gun lobby, you are subject to some of the most vile harassment on the internet,” Clinton says. “Erica found that out when she decided” to speak out. | |
| “This is not some kind of free opportunity for any of the panelists. They’ve put themselves in the public, some for the first time on the national level, and it’s important that those of us who want to support them stand up for them.” | |
| 5.18pm BST | |
| 17:18 | |
| Kimberly Washington, founder of the New Haven-based anti-gun violence group Mothers Demand Action, said she got involved in the issue because “I can’t just watch young people, our children, killing each other every single day.” | |
| “Like Erica said, New Haven? We got Sandy Hook every day,” Washington says. | |
| “For all the people who came out today, you need to think about, it could be someone in your family that this could happen to.” | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.23pm BST | |
| 5.11pm BST | |
| 17:11 | |
| Iran Nazario, director of community outreach at Compass peacebuilders youth collaborative in Hartford, is telling the story of his youthful gang involvement, which culminated in a prison sentence for him and the murder of his brother. | |
| “There are kids out there whose souls are trapped, and they need us, and they need these laws and they need this control,” Nazario says. | |
| Clinton insert an explanation that Nazario ended up in foster care with his brothers and sisters. She says she wants to expand on the gangs issue. | |
| “Joining a gang is like having a family,” Clinton says... “So we’re either gonna have gangs that murder and rob.. or we’re gonna have positive gangs, we’re gonna have positive alternatives for young people.” | |
| She says most gun violence deaths affect young African American and Latino men, and that the leading cause of death for young African American men – more than the next nine causes combined – is gun violence. | |
| 5.06pm BST | |
| 17:06 | |
| Erica Smegielski is the first to speak. “Prior to that day, I was one of those people who didn’t have gun violence on my radar,” she says of the Sandy Hook shooting. | |
| The reality is, my mom was murdered, and she is not coming back no matter how hard I fight... what I can do is stand up and use my voice, and use my story, in order to motivate other people to use their voice and share their story, and come together on this issue. | |
| I’m asking each of you to get involved, before you find out the hard way. | |
| Smelgieski says the problem goes beyond Sandy Hook. | |
| Mass shootings are the minority. What we have to focus on is the everyday gun violence that plagues our cities, that plagues our streets that plagues our towns. | |
| 4.59pm BST | 4.59pm BST |
| 16:59 | 16:59 |
| Clinton sketches a few of her leading policy prescriptions on guns: comprehensive background checks and closing the so-called gun show loophole and the Charleston loophole, by which gun purchases are allowed to go forward without background checks if the checks take more than three days. The shooter in the June 2015 church massacre in Charleston, SC, obtained a gun through such a loophole. | Clinton sketches a few of her leading policy prescriptions on guns: comprehensive background checks and closing the so-called gun show loophole and the Charleston loophole, by which gun purchases are allowed to go forward without background checks if the checks take more than three days. The shooter in the June 2015 church massacre in Charleston, SC, obtained a gun through such a loophole. |
| 4.57pm BST | 4.57pm BST |
| 16:57 | 16:57 |
| “I am not here to make promises we can’t keep,” Clinton says. “I am here to tell you I will use every minute of every single day if I’m fortunate enough to become president ... to change gun culture. It is just too easy for people to reach for a gun to solve their problems. It makes no sense.” | “I am not here to make promises we can’t keep,” Clinton says. “I am here to tell you I will use every minute of every single day if I’m fortunate enough to become president ... to change gun culture. It is just too easy for people to reach for a gun to solve their problems. It makes no sense.” |
| Clinton says that sensible gun control reform is possible within the guidelines of the second amendment. | Clinton says that sensible gun control reform is possible within the guidelines of the second amendment. |
| 4.55pm BST | 4.55pm BST |
| 16:55 | 16:55 |
| Clinton takes stage at gun violence event | Clinton takes stage at gun violence event |
| Hillary Clinton has taken the stage in the Hartford YMCA gym, and is introduced by Erica Smegielski, daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung. Smegielski calls Clinton “my partner in this fight.” | Hillary Clinton has taken the stage in the Hartford YMCA gym, and is introduced by Erica Smegielski, daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung. Smegielski calls Clinton “my partner in this fight.” |
| The issue of gun violence is “personal for Connecticut,” Smegielski says, “and not just because of Sandy Hook, which we all lived, you lived that with me,” but because of daily gun violence. | The issue of gun violence is “personal for Connecticut,” Smegielski says, “and not just because of Sandy Hook, which we all lived, you lived that with me,” but because of daily gun violence. |
| Clinton begins: “If anything else were killing 33,000 Americans a year, you can bet we’d be fully mobilized, doing anything we possibly could to save lives.” | Clinton begins: “If anything else were killing 33,000 Americans a year, you can bet we’d be fully mobilized, doing anything we possibly could to save lives.” |
| 4.50pm BST | 4.50pm BST |
| 16:50 | 16:50 |
| Clinton recalls her withdrawal from 2008 race | Clinton recalls her withdrawal from 2008 race |
| Asked in an appearance on morning TV about her prospects for attracting Bernie Sanders supporters should he – once he? – withdraws from the nominating race, Hillary Clinton drew on a convenient analogy: her own withdrawal from the 2008 nominating race. | Asked in an appearance on morning TV about her prospects for attracting Bernie Sanders supporters should he – once he? – withdraws from the nominating race, Hillary Clinton drew on a convenient analogy: her own withdrawal from the 2008 nominating race. |
| “I know something about this,” she said, “because people remember that president Obama and I ran a really tough race for the entire primary season, and he ended up with more delegates, and I withdrew, I endorsed him and then I got to work.” | “I know something about this,” she said, “because people remember that president Obama and I ran a really tough race for the entire primary season, and he ended up with more delegates, and I withdrew, I endorsed him and then I got to work.” |
| She continued: | She continued: |
| And remember, when I withdrew in June of 2008, polls were showing that at least 40% of my supporters said that oh, they weren’t going to support Senator Obama. So I had to get to work, and I had to make the case, I nominated him at the convention, i went from group to group... convincing people who were my delegates to come together, to unify, because what then-senator Obama had in common was much greater than our differences. | And remember, when I withdrew in June of 2008, polls were showing that at least 40% of my supporters said that oh, they weren’t going to support Senator Obama. So I had to get to work, and I had to make the case, I nominated him at the convention, i went from group to group... convincing people who were my delegates to come together, to unify, because what then-senator Obama had in common was much greater than our differences. |
| I’m confident that we’ll all join together. | I’m confident that we’ll all join together. |
| 4.26pm BST | 4.26pm BST |
| 16:26 | 16:26 |
| Maria L La Ganga | Maria L La Ganga |
| California is the biggest prize in the US presidential primary cycle – and, as Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich will discover when they travel to the state later this month, the most complicated, demanding and expensive political battlefield, writes the Guardian’s Maria L La Ganga: | California is the biggest prize in the US presidential primary cycle – and, as Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich will discover when they travel to the state later this month, the most complicated, demanding and expensive political battlefield, writes the Guardian’s Maria L La Ganga: |
| For decades, the state has been irrelevant to presidential nomination contests. | For decades, the state has been irrelevant to presidential nomination contests. |
| With its primaries on the tail end of the election cycle, the last time the Golden State mattered to Democrats was in 1972, and California has not been relevant to Republicans since 1964. | With its primaries on the tail end of the election cycle, the last time the Golden State mattered to Democrats was in 1972, and California has not been relevant to Republicans since 1964. |
| This year is different. If Trump is to either win the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination or get close enough to effectively seal victory, then the finish line will be marked in California. | This year is different. If Trump is to either win the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination or get close enough to effectively seal victory, then the finish line will be marked in California. |
| For Cruz, Kasich and much of the Republican establishment, the contest is likely to be their last chance to stop the businessman. There are other important contests that will come first – particularly the one held in Indiana. [For more on the importance of Indiana click here.] | For Cruz, Kasich and much of the Republican establishment, the contest is likely to be their last chance to stop the businessman. There are other important contests that will come first – particularly the one held in Indiana. [For more on the importance of Indiana click here.] |
| But none is expected to have a bigger impact on the outcome of the race than California. Trump hopes to perform well there in June off the back of his convincing victory in New York on Tuesday, which followed a string of losses. | But none is expected to have a bigger impact on the outcome of the race than California. Trump hopes to perform well there in June off the back of his convincing victory in New York on Tuesday, which followed a string of losses. |
| Read the full piece here: | Read the full piece here: |
| Related: Why California is Republicans' best bet to stop Trump | Related: Why California is Republicans' best bet to stop Trump |
| 4.14pm BST | 4.14pm BST |
| 16:14 | 16:14 |
| Actors in Ted Cruz ad depict Clinton, Abedin | Actors in Ted Cruz ad depict Clinton, Abedin |
| As we wait for Clinton to take the stage, let’s take a quick look at what else is happening on the campaign landscape. | As we wait for Clinton to take the stage, let’s take a quick look at what else is happening on the campaign landscape. |
| Here’s one that’s as hard to miss as it is to make sense of: Ted Cruz has produced a new video ad with actors portraying Hillary Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin detailing the opposition research file against Donald Trump. | Here’s one that’s as hard to miss as it is to make sense of: Ted Cruz has produced a new video ad with actors portraying Hillary Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin detailing the opposition research file against Donald Trump. |
| It’s a fairly nasty, and let’s just go ahead and call it sexist, ad for its depiction of Clinton, whose stand-in wears deeply furrowed lines on her upper lip (is that a prosthesis?) to express age. This is Clinton-as-crone. | It’s a fairly nasty, and let’s just go ahead and call it sexist, ad for its depiction of Clinton, whose stand-in wears deeply furrowed lines on her upper lip (is that a prosthesis?) to express age. This is Clinton-as-crone. |
| After the strategy team in the ad gets through slides detailing Trump’s misdeeds and weaknesses, which make them chortle, the Clinton character is handed a file which opens to reveal Ted Cruz and then she is advised that there would be no way to beat Cruz in a general election. When in fact airing this ad for the majority of Americans who don’t subscribe to insane Huma Abedin conspiracy theories would probably work pretty well as an illustration of some of Cruz’s potential flaws. | After the strategy team in the ad gets through slides detailing Trump’s misdeeds and weaknesses, which make them chortle, the Clinton character is handed a file which opens to reveal Ted Cruz and then she is advised that there would be no way to beat Cruz in a general election. When in fact airing this ad for the majority of Americans who don’t subscribe to insane Huma Abedin conspiracy theories would probably work pretty well as an illustration of some of Cruz’s potential flaws. |
| 3.55pm BST | 3.55pm BST |
| 15:55 | 15:55 |
| We’re inside the Wilson-Gray YMCA in Hartford, Connecticut, where Hillary Clinton is scheduled to hold a discussion with family members of gun violence victims. | We’re inside the Wilson-Gray YMCA in Hartford, Connecticut, where Hillary Clinton is scheduled to hold a discussion with family members of gun violence victims. |
| Hundreds of people queued for hours outside, and many were still waiting to be admitted to the event, staged at one end of the Y gym (there are enough attendees to fill a basketball court, and enough media to field multiple teams). | Hundreds of people queued for hours outside, and many were still waiting to be admitted to the event, staged at one end of the Y gym (there are enough attendees to fill a basketball court, and enough media to field multiple teams). |
| The gym has been adapted for the occasion with three US flags of descending size, two Connecticut flags and a lot of folding chairs. Hanging next to the stage are four banners with pictures of happy kids reading “cool,” “super,” “wow” and “magic.” | The gym has been adapted for the occasion with three US flags of descending size, two Connecticut flags and a lot of folding chairs. Hanging next to the stage are four banners with pictures of happy kids reading “cool,” “super,” “wow” and “magic.” |
| In conjunction with this morning’s event, the Clinton campaign has released a video ad featuring Erica Smegielski, daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, the principal who was among the six educators killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary attack. | In conjunction with this morning’s event, the Clinton campaign has released a video ad featuring Erica Smegielski, daughter of Dawn Hochsprung, the principal who was among the six educators killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary attack. |
| “My mom was murdered while trying to protect the children in her care from a gunman,” says Smegielski: | “My mom was murdered while trying to protect the children in her care from a gunman,” says Smegielski: |
| No one is fighting harder to reform our gun laws than Hillary Clinton. She is the only candidate who has what it takes to take on the gun lobby. | No one is fighting harder to reform our gun laws than Hillary Clinton. She is the only candidate who has what it takes to take on the gun lobby. |
| She reminds me of my mother. She isn’t afraid of anything. | She reminds me of my mother. She isn’t afraid of anything. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.55pm BST | at 3.55pm BST |
| 2.46pm BST | 2.46pm BST |
| 14:46 | 14:46 |
| Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. We’re running the blog this morning from Hartford, Connecticut, where Hillary Clinton is about to convene a meeting with family members of victims of gun violence, including families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, about 50 miles west of here. | Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House. We’re running the blog this morning from Hartford, Connecticut, where Hillary Clinton is about to convene a meeting with family members of victims of gun violence, including families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, about 50 miles west of here. |
| Later today the blog will jump to Philadelphia, to be typed from the scene of a rally for stalwart Republican hopeful John Kasich. | Later today the blog will jump to Philadelphia, to be typed from the scene of a rally for stalwart Republican hopeful John Kasich. |
| The Guardian’s Lois Beckett reported on Wednesday that families of Sandy Hook victims are suing the maker, distributor and dealer of the Bushmaster rifle used in the shooting: | The Guardian’s Lois Beckett reported on Wednesday that families of Sandy Hook victims are suing the maker, distributor and dealer of the Bushmaster rifle used in the shooting: |
| The companies’ militaristic marketing of the AR-15 style rifles is at the center of the suit. From a legal perspective, experts say, the lawsuit has a remote chance of success. But it has gained political prominence in the Democratic presidential race, with Hillary Clinton using her support for the lawsuit as a rallying point on her way to victory in the New York state primary, and Bernie Sanders facing increasing criticism for his comments against it. | The companies’ militaristic marketing of the AR-15 style rifles is at the center of the suit. From a legal perspective, experts say, the lawsuit has a remote chance of success. But it has gained political prominence in the Democratic presidential race, with Hillary Clinton using her support for the lawsuit as a rallying point on her way to victory in the New York state primary, and Bernie Sanders facing increasing criticism for his comments against it. |
| Related: Families of Sandy Hook victims go after 'untouchable' gun manufacturers | Related: Families of Sandy Hook victims go after 'untouchable' gun manufacturers |
| In the messy fight for the Republican nomination, meanwhile, the party’s national committee has convened its spring meeting at a luxury seaside resort in South Florida. Ted Cruz and Kasich are in attendance, while Donald Trump has dispatched top aides to make his case for the nomination. | In the messy fight for the Republican nomination, meanwhile, the party’s national committee has convened its spring meeting at a luxury seaside resort in South Florida. Ted Cruz and Kasich are in attendance, while Donald Trump has dispatched top aides to make his case for the nomination. |
| While the distinguished party figures in attendance have the power to tailor rules for how the Republican nominee is selected at July’s national convention, RNC chairman Reince Priebus reportedly opposes taking such a step in the current round of meetings, out of (extremely well founded) concerns that any rules revision would be brandished by Trump as further evidence of a rigged system. | While the distinguished party figures in attendance have the power to tailor rules for how the Republican nominee is selected at July’s national convention, RNC chairman Reince Priebus reportedly opposes taking such a step in the current round of meetings, out of (extremely well founded) concerns that any rules revision would be brandished by Trump as further evidence of a rigged system. |
| Senator Ted Cruz has been MATHEMATICALLY ELIMINATED from race. He said Kasich should get out for same reason. I think both should get out! | Senator Ted Cruz has been MATHEMATICALLY ELIMINATED from race. He said Kasich should get out for same reason. I think both should get out! |
| Bernie Sanders shared good news late Wednesday, in the form of a Federal Elections Commission filing, with supporters disappointed with his loss in New York: in March his campaign raised nearly $46m, to only $29.3m for Clinton. | Bernie Sanders shared good news late Wednesday, in the form of a Federal Elections Commission filing, with supporters disappointed with his loss in New York: in March his campaign raised nearly $46m, to only $29.3m for Clinton. |
| And yet: | And yet: |
| Hillary Clinton can lose every remaining primary in coming weeks, still clinch Democratic presidential nomination: https://t.co/LKgq9ODDVU | Hillary Clinton can lose every remaining primary in coming weeks, still clinch Democratic presidential nomination: https://t.co/LKgq9ODDVU |
| Thanks for reading and as always join us in the comments. We’ll be blogging from inside the Hartford YMCA shortly. | Thanks for reading and as always join us in the comments. We’ll be blogging from inside the Hartford YMCA shortly. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.56pm BST | at 3.56pm BST |