Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the previously peaceful protests over George Floyd’s death in police custody have been “hijacked” by rioters committing “unjust…
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the previously peaceful protests over George Floyd’s death in police custody have been “hijacked” by rioters committing “unjust violence.”
McConnell, R-Ky., from the Senate floor, said he “completely” supported and “fully defends” citizens’ rights to engage in “peaceful protest,” but condemned the riots that spread across the nation over the weekend as those protests turned violent.
“Over the last several days, citizens have watched with horror as cities across America have convulsed with looting, riots and destruction,” he said. “On a nightly basis, initially peaceful demonstrators have been hijacked.”
He added: “Americans have watched protests dedicated to ending unjust violence mutate into riots that inflict unjust violence themselves.”
“Free speech and peaceful protest are central American liberties,” he continued. “Looting, rioting, assault and arson are violent crimes that have no place—no place whatsoever—in our society.”
McConnell went on to say that it “is not a display of courageous citizenship to smash and destroy small businesses that have just barely hung on through the pandemic,” or “to set fire to a church.”
“You do not advance peace by committing assault. You do not advance justice by inflicting injustice upon your neighbors,” he said.
