CHARLOTTE (KRON) — A young girl made a big impact at a Charlotte City Council meeting Monday night.

9-year-old Zianna Oliphant wept as she stood at the podium during the tense meeting.

“It’s a shame that our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t see them anymore,” she said with tears streaming down her face.

“It’s a shame that we have to go to their graveyard and bury them. And we have tears. We shouldn’t have tears. We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side.”

Zianna made her tearful statements during the first city council meeting to come after the protests over the police shooting of Keith Scott.

Charlotte residents packed City Hall, delivering blistering criticisms for how Mayor Jennifer Roberts and the city’s police handled the death of Scott, an African-American man who was shot by an officer last week.

The girl says it was important for council members to see how children are being affected.CNN contributed to this report