Hillary Clinton should be 'in stripes' for Benghazi, a bereft mother tells Republican Convention

Tales of anguish by parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants goad xenophobic instincts of some on the floor

Pat Smith addressing the convention on Monday evening (AP)

The mother of a US foreign servicemen killed in the 2012 Benghazi attack was cheered by Republicans in Cleveland saying Hillary Clinton “should be in stripes” for “lying” about what happened.

“I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son,” a distressed and seemingly nervous Patricia Smith said at the first night of the party’s convention in Ohio as she recounted losing her son, Sean Smith, one of four Americans killed in the assault.

Ms Smith, barely containing tears, was the first in a list of speakers at the Monday evening session that was partly dedicated to replaying the tragedy even though a recent Senate report absolved Ms Clinton, who was US Secretary of State at the time, of any wrongdoing.

The programme included a long appearance by Mark Geist and John Tiegen, who were part of Benghazi annex security team and were among the first Americans to get to the scene after the attack and later wrote a book about it, Thirteen Hours, that was later made into a film.

It was a theme designed also to highlight Donald Trump’s promises to put “America First” in foreign policy and the assertion that recent terror attacks and other crises, including the failed coup in Turkey, are a result of Ms Clinton’s term as chief diplomat for President Barack Obama.

The fall-out from the attack, which also killed the US Ambassador in Libya, Christopher Stevens, included claims that Ms Clinton deliberately mischaracterised what turned out to have been a terror attack as a spontaneous response to a video released hours earlier that insulted Islam.

“I saw Hillary Clinton at Sean’s coffin ceremony and she looked me in the eye and told me a video was responsible. since then I have repeatedly asked Hillary Clinton to explain to me the real reason why my son is dead,” Ms Smith said. “I am still waiting.”

Shortly before finishing Ms Smith heard a voice in the throng of delegates saying Ms Clinton should be in prison. And departing from the speech that was prepared on the teleprompter, she looked down and said, “That is right, Hillary for prison. She deserves to be in stripes.”

“Donald Trump is everything Hillary Clinton is not. He is blunt, direct, and strong. He speaks his mind and his heart,” Ms Smith told a packed house of delegates in the Quicken Loans Arena. “If Hillary Clinton can’t give us the truth, why should we give her the presidency?”

When the theme shifted later in the evening to the issue of immigration - and Mr Trump’s vow to crack down on illegal immigration and build a wall on the Mexican border - video screens showed the brother and sister of a former soldier who was killed in 2014 patrolling the border in Arizona speaking from the same spot where he lost his life.

And introducing grieving mothers for political effect became a meme of the night. Also bought to the stage was another mother, Mary Mendoza, who spoke of losing her son, a police officer, to a man who she said was driving high on drugs, and drunk on alcohol, and who, she said, had come into the country illegally.

“I had my son stolen from me by a man…who had no business being in this country,” Ms Mendoza. “My son’s life was stolen at the hands of an illegal, it’s time we had an administration that cares more about Americans than about illegals. A vote for Hillary is putting all our children’s lives at risk, it’s time for Donald Trump.”

Extolling the promise of stronger foreign leadership under Mr Trump, Mike McCaul, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the House of Representatives, drew loud applause berating President Barack Obama's record. “Are you safer than you were eight years ago? Is our military stronger? Is America still respected?”, he asked, drawn chants of 'No!“ from delegates.

“It's time to unify as a party...Donald will never allow terrorists to gain ground against America, he would shake the ground they walk on,,” he added.

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