Hillary Clinton blames “racism” for Cincinnati gorilla’s death

The presumptive Democratic nominee has weighed in on the gorilla saga that has gripped the nation in the past week, and she has introduced racism into the debate.

Over the weekend, a silverback gorilla named Harambe was shot and killed by a Cincinnati zoo-keeper after a young child fell into the animal’s enclosure.  Since then, a lively debate has emerged on social media over whether or not the zoo was correct in putting the gorilla down.

On Thursday, while campaigning in California, former Secretary of State and presumptive Democratic nominee for President weighed in on the debate.  After being asked for her thoughts on the situation, Hillary Clinton took the opportunity to frame the question into the larger debate over police violence and racial tension in America.

“I will tell you one thing,” Clinton said to a group of reporters.  “If that gorilla was white, this situation would have ended differently.  This was another senseless act of violence that spawned from prejudicial views about skin color.”

“Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown — now you can add Harambe to that list,” Clinton continued.

“Another life has been ended because people reacted quickly and let their prejudices overtake their capacity for logical thought.”

The Trump campaign has not yet responded to Clinton’s comments, but a representative from Black Lives Matter applauded what they called Clinton’s “courageous stand against injustice.”