--- title: Hillary Clinton Apologizes for 'Superpredator' Remark description: Hillary Clinton apologized on Thursday for using the word "superpredators" to describe kids who committed crimes in a 1996 speech canonical: https://time.com/4238230/hillary-clinton-black-lives-matter-superpredator/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-26T00:43:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:41:17.648Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Apologizes for 'Superpredator' Remark og:description: "Looking back, I shouldn’t have used those words, and I wouldn’t use them today" og:url: https://time.com/4238230/hillary-clinton-black-lives-matter-superpredator/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt203bb99e48145f78/69887f345f570fc42fb1fcd0/hillary-clinton16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Hillary Clinton Holds Campaign Event With Cory Booker In South Carolina og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Apologizes for 'Superpredator' Remark twitter:description: "Looking back, I shouldn’t have used those words, and I wouldn’t use them today" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt203bb99e48145f78/69887f345f570fc42fb1fcd0/hillary-clinton16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Apologizes for 'Superpredator' Remark > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=80e2efcb-d1ed-47b8-ae01-36c8e9bc9d5d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Watch Black Lives Matter Activist Confront Clinton [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Watch Black Lives Matter Activist Confront Clinton](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/N0TomwBE.m3u8) (0:46)  _Published 2016-02-25_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 26, 2016 12:43 AM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Feb 26, 2016 12:43 AM UTC Hillary Clinton [apologized on Thursday](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/02/25/hillary-clinton-responds-to-activist-who-demanded-apology-for-superpredator-remarks/) for remarks she made in a 1996 speech, in which she used the word _superpredators_ to describe kids with “no conscience, no empathy” who committed crimes. A Black Lives Matter activist [interrupted Clinton at a private event in South Carolina on Wednesday](http://time.com/4237111/black-lives-matter-hillary-clinton-protest/), asking the former Secretary of State to answer for the remarks and apologize to black people for mass incarceration. The activist, Ashley Williams, was escorted from the event after Clinton said she’d never been asked about the speech and would be happy to address it. “In that speech, I was talking about the impact violent crime and vicious drug cartels were having on communities across the country and the particular danger they posed to children and families,” Clinton [told the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/02/25/hillary-clinton-responds-to-activist-who-demanded-apology-for-superpredator-remarks/) on Thursday. “Looking back, I shouldn’t have used those words, and I wouldn’t use them today.” Clinton said she has devoted her life’s work to helping underserved children, too many of whom, she said, are in African-American communities. “We haven’t done right by them. We need to,” she said. “We need to end the school to prison pipeline and replace it with a cradle-to-college pipeline.” ## Transcript Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle for the black vote has dominated headlines ahead of this weekends South Carolina primary. Both candidates ramping up their outreach as Clinton enjoys a commanding lead with this key group. But at a private event last night in Charleston, Clinton's past stance on crime came under scrutiny from a Black Lives Matter activist, Ashley Williams To ensure that South Carolina became the first state with body cameras. There is more work to be done but gotta lay down these markers, you gotta build toward a common sense of-- We've got somebody saying here. We have to bring home to heel. We want you to apologize for mass incarceration. Okay we'll talk about it. I'm not a super predator, Hillary Clinton. Okay fine, we'll talk about it. Can you apologize to black people for mass incarceration ? >> Well can I talk? Yes. And then maybe you can listen to what I have to say. You called black people super predators. And about. You're being rude. [ CROSSTALK ] Super predators, that's rude. This is not appropriate. That's rude. Do you want to hear the facts or do you just want to talk? You're trespassing. I know that you called black youths super predators in 1994. 1994. Please explain your record. Explain it to us! You owe black people an apology! 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