President Trump threatens to send in m******y to end unrest
Washington, Tuesday
President Donald Trump has threatened to send in the military to quell growing civil unrest in the US over the death of a black man in police custody.
He said if cities and states failed to control the protests and “defend their residents” he would deploy the army and “quickly solve the problem for them”.
The dramatic escalation of protests came after the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck, leading to the worst civil unrest in decades in New York, Los Angeles and dozens of other American cities.
Four police meanwhile were shot and injured on Monday night during unrest in St Louis, Missouri.
Police chief Colonel John Hayden Junior told reporters “some coward fired shots at officers and now we have four in hospital. Thank God they’re alive,” before becoming overcome with emotion.
Protests have so far swept more than 75 cities. Dozens of major cities have imposed overnight curfews.
After being criticized for his silence on the worsening crisis, Trump struck a martial tone in a nationwide address Monday from the White House garden, as police fired tear gas on peaceful protesters outside the fence.
“I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and the wanton destruction of property,” Trump said.
He slammed the previous night’s unrest in Washington as a “total disgrace” and called on governors to “dominate the streets.”
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” he said, denouncing “acts of domestic terror.”
Despite the president’s rhetoric, Monday’s protests appeared largely peaceful in major cities, though some looting was reported in New York and Los Angeles.
During his address, however, law enforcement including military police used tear gas to clear protesters outside the White House so the president could walk across the street to the two-centuries-old St John’s church, hit with graffiti and partially damaged by fire during unrest on Sunday.
“We have a great country,” Trump declared as he stood before the church’s boarded-up windows, held up a Bible and posed for photographs.
The backlash was swift.
“He’s using American military against the American people,” tweeted Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden.
Washington’s Episcopalian bishop, Mariann Budde, said she was “outraged” at the church visit, which she said Trump did not have permission for.
Thousands of people have participated in the nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racism since Floyd’s killing.
It has been the most widespread unrest in the United States since 1968, when cities went up in flames over the slaying of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Many of the demonstrations have been peaceful and marked by moments of catharsis, such as officers hugging tearful protesters and marching or kneeling alongside them. -AFP and BBC
