By Jill Colvin and Colleen Long
The Associated Press
President Donald Trump on May 29 threatened to take action to bring the city of Minneapolis “under control,” calling violent protesters outraged by the death of a Black man in police custody “thugs” and saying that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Trump tweeted after protesters torched a Minneapolis police station, capping three days of violence over the death of George Floyd, who pleaded for air as a White police officer knelt on his neck.
Slapping back, the White House reposted Trump’s “shooting starts” message on its official Twitter account on the morning of May 29.
Trump, who has often remained silent in the aftermath of police-involved killings and has a long history of defending police, has been uncharacteristically vocal this time, saying earlier May 28 that he felt “very, very badly” about Floyd’s death and calling video capturing his struggle “a very shocking sight.”
Trump has been silent on a number of high-profile police-involved killings, including that of Stephon Clark, a Black man shot by Sacramento, Calif., police in 2018.
