U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday tried to walk back a Twitter threat to respond with deadly force to three days of violent protests in Minneapolis over the police killing of an unarmed black man.
U. S. President Donald Trump on Friday tried to walk back a Twitter threat to respond with deadly force to three days of violent protests in Minneapolis over the police killing of an unarmed black man.
After his online comment that “looting leads to shooting” drew a warning from Twitter and widespread condemnation from Democrats, Trump said he understood why the incident had sparked nationwide protests about police violence against African Americans.
But he added that they should not be allowed to turn to “lawless anarchy.”
“The looters should not be allowed to drown out the voices of so many peaceful protesters,” he said at the White House. “I understand the hurt, I understand the pain.”
Trump said he had expressed his sorrow to the family of George Floyd, a black man seen on video gasping for breath while a white police officer knelt on his neck. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Trump, a Republican who is running for re-election in November, has a history of inflaming racial tensions. He blamed “both sides” for violence between white supremacists and left-wing counter protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 and has called some immigrants crossing the U.
