Advocates chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’ interrupt the end of Jeb Bush’s Las

Bush’s PR team said that he had met with “members of the movement” earlier in the day and had discussed criminal justice reform and “barriers to upward mobility”.

A “Black Lives Matter” sign has been vandalized for the second time in a month outside a Maryland church.

The event marked the first time that Black Lives Matter protesters have targeted a major Republican presidential candidate’s campaign event, after weeks trailing Democratic candidates – especially Sen. Central to their message is a push to overhaul the criminal justice system and combat the structural racism they say pervades American politics and the culture at large.

The former Florida governor had met with the advocates before his Wednesday night event, said his campaign in a statement to CNN.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) echoed that message, alluding to recent high-profile cases of young unarmed blacks killed by police officers as proof that America’s racial problems persist and demand a specific response from the presidential candidates — liberal and conservative alike.

“I have a record of empowering people in communities that” were told “they had no chance”, Bush said, ending the town hall. Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have also had rallies interestuped by protests. He added that he believes education is a key part of the solution.

After Bush’s speech, Hall said she felt his response to her question was “vague” and didn’t pinpoint the true issues. “What about today?” Hall said later. “People are dying in the streets”.

After answering the question, Bush shook some hands and left the room.

On immigration, Bush said he supported a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants, but not a path to citizenship, drawing a smattering of boos from the crowd.

After the activists asked him to elaborate, he responded, “I relate to it by running for president to try and create a climate where there is civility and understanding and to encourage mayors, leaders at the local level to engage so that there is not despair and isolation in communities”. “The net result now is, instead of having a fragile but stable Iraq, we now have an Iraq on fire”. And later in the evening, the Bush campaign released an official statement about demonstration.