The president’s tweets prompted Twitter to append them with a note saying the posts were “glorifying violence.”
President Trump on Friday threatened to send the National Guard to Minneapolis unless the city’s Democratic mayor brought the violent protests touched off by the death of a black man at the hands of four white police officers under control, injecting himself into a growing crisis over police abuse and race that will be another test of his ability to lead an anxious nation.
By the time the president had issued his threat in a string of tweets, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota had already activated and deployed the National Guard in response to a request from local leaders.
“I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter. “A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.”
Mr. Trump began tweeting about the unrest in Minneapolis around 1 a.m., as cable news showed the police station where the four city police officers involved in the death of George Floyd were assigned engulfed in a fire set by protesters a short time earlier.
Mr. Floyd died on Monday after one of the white police officers knelt on his neck while he was handcuffed and lying face down on the ground, calling out “I can’t breathe.
