After spending years working to combat gun violence in the United States, Trayvon Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton is running for office. Fulton announced on Saturday that she would run for a soon-to-be open seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission, the Miami Herald reports.
“Since 2012, I have advocated tirelessly to empower our communities and make them safer,” Fulton told the Florida paper in a statement. “But the work is not done. I am proud to announce that I will run to represent District 1 on the county commission.”
Fulton will face off against Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert, who is also campaigning for the seat, per the Herald. The paper reports that she plans to formally launch her campaign on Monday.
“Our county must continue moving forward so our families are safe from violence, can afford to live in Miami-Dade, and have access to good paying jobs,” Fulton said in her statement. “I am ready to take on these issues and many others in county government.”
In 2013, Martin, a Black teenager, was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch captain, according to CNN. (Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder, CNN reported at the time.)
Martin was unarmed, and his death renewed a controversial national conversation about gun violence in the United States, particularly against black people. After his death, Fulton launched The Trayvon Martin Foundation, which, per its website, aims "to bring awareness to ending senseless gun violence."
The Herald reports that Fulton worked for the county at the time when Martin was killed. In the time since, she has advocated for gun safety measures in order to help curb gun violence. Specifically, she has promoted more a more comprehensive background check system and increased regulations for private gun sales.
Fulton's county commission campaign will not be her first foray into politics. Since her son's death, she has appeared in gun safety advocacy campaigns, and in 2016, she campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. At the time, she described Clinton as the nominee "who will stand up to inaction from Republicans and indifference from the NRA" and work to reduce gun violence, CNN reports.
As of Sunday, it was not clear what other issues Fulton would campaign on as she works to win a seat on the county commission. Fulton has said in the past that she never planned on living a public life.
"Prior to this, I was just an average mom working an average job living in an average house, taking care of average kids," Fulton recently told Essence. "It took my son to be shot down before I stood up, because I never expected to be a community activist, to be a spokesperson, to be an author."
In the same interview she noted that she had not forgiven Zimmerman for fatally shooting her son. "I think Black people are not forced to forgive, but they are expected to forgive because there are so many times where we have forgiven people who have done mean, evil, and nasty things to us,” she told the magazine.
Fulton is expected to formally announce her campaign at 2 p.m. on Monday, per a local ABC affiliate.
