Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, announced on Monday her intentions to run for public office in Miami-Dade County.
Martin’s death at the hands of George Zimmerman is widely credited with sparking the Black Lives Matter movement, and if elected, Fulton plans to use her position to “empower our communities and make them safer.”
“My time as a public servant began 30 years ago at Miami-Dade County. Since 2012, I have advocated tirelessly to empower our communities and make them safer,” she said in a statement on Instagram. “But the work is not done. I am proud to announce that I will run to represent District 1 on the county commission.”
Fulton’s decision to run for Miami-Dade County commissioner comes after years of activism with the Trayvon Martin Foundation, a non-profit Fulton and her husband, Tracy Martin, established in March 2012, less the one month after their 17-year-old son was killed.
SEE ALSO: George Zimmerman on Black Lives Matter: ‘I see them as terrorists’
Tracy Martin and Fulton told the Miami Herald in 2017 that they were both considering runs at the local, state, and national levels.
Fulton has stated repeatedly since 2012 that she does not want to be in the public eye. She begins her campaign ad, “At first, I didn’t want to be the voice for Trayvon after he died. But I decided I have no choice. Now I’m called to act.”
“I did not want this spotlight,” she said while speaking at the Democratic National Convention. “This is about saving our children.”
If elected, Fulton plans to tackle housing costs, mental health, and, of course, “senseless gun violence.”
“We have to come together with some sort of plan to get rid of all of these weapons that are unregistered that are sitting around that people are just using carelessly,” she told Washington State’s KCTS9. “We have to know the meaning of senseless gun violence — something that could be prevented.”
Fulton’s son was shot and killed in 2012 in Florida by a man named George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claimed that Trayvon Martin attacked him, and he shot the teenager in self-defense. A six-person jury sided with Zimmerman, ruling that the man could not be charged. A Department of Justice investigation also determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge Zimmerman with a hate crime.
SEE ALSO: George Zimmerman to Auction Off the Kel-Tec PF9 Used to Kill Trayvon Martin
Fulton believes the jury got it wrong.
“He wasn’t lost – he was murdered,” she told a crowd in 2015. “He was murdered at the hands of senseless gun violence. He was murdered at the hands of racial profiling.”
She blames her son’s death on hate, telling KCTS9, “people hate you so much that they want to harm you; they hate you so much that they want to kill you. How do we become a society such as that? How did we get there?”
In 2016, Fulton endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, calling the former secretary of state the candidate best positioned to “stand up to inaction from Republicans and indifference from the NRA” on gun control.
Fulton is running against Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver G. Gilbert III for the commissioner position.
its plan to see that all yall are racist monsters and some of you probably werent even born here. youre opinion doesnt matter here, in life, or even your own. most of you are likely child predators
She couldn’t raise her son not to be a thug and now she wants to disarm folks so they wont be able to defend against other treyvons trying to murder them!
Hope her constituents arent stupid
I guess she will get the young thug vote in Miami-Dade. What? Wait, young thugs don’t vote. Sorry about that Sybrina, but Miami-Dade really doesn’t need another fat, black politician
She forgot to mention in her interview how Miami dade county school board police was about to arrest her son for two burglaries. Her son was a young criminal who was eventually going to get worst.
The prior commenters nailed it to a tee!She failed as a mother,raised a out of control thug who gets put down and she blames everyone but herself!The perfect democrat
Perfect!
Well my first comment has disappeared. My comment in essence stated. This woman was a failure as a mother. Her son didn’t live with her because she had no control over him and he was committing crimes when he was with her. She ships him off and he continues with his thug like behavior. She now as a confirmed failure as a parent wants to be involved in government. She never accepted responsibility for her son but wants to be a democratic representative. What a perfect example actually. Always blaming others for her and her sons failures. She is the perfect democrat.
Wow, a new low. Her son wasn’t even living with her because of the issues he was having at home. He went north to live and was still getting in trouble. She has always blamed others for her failure as a parent. Well actually she is the ideal democratic candidate. Always blame others when you yourself fail.
Spot on. This is unbelievable.
“Hands up, don’t vote!”
LOL!
Trayvon be gone and his mammy need to axe herself why she be usin’ Hillabeast Clinton’s campaign slogan: “I’m with Sybrina”
Good parenting would have saved her son. If my kid said he was going to the store for candy and was dressed all in black and had a backpack on, I’d think he was lying to me. The fact that women’s jewelry was in that pack was suppressed at trial too.
So her qualifications are basically that she is black and raised her son to be a violent thug who was killed because he was a punk with no self-control? Well, if I lived in Miami-Dade she would get my vote!