MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The mother of the unarmed black teen who was shot dead by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida in 2012 has formally announced her candidacy to run for local office.

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Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, spoke to supporters Monday in Miami Gardens. She’s challenging Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert for a Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners seat that is up for grabs in 2020 because of term limits.
Fulton says her 24 years as a county employee and her activism have prepared her for office. She was thrust into the national spotlight after her son’s killer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted under Florida’s controversial self-defense law.
Martin’s death sparked national outrage and was the catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, fueling the ongoing national conversation on systemic racism.