President Donald Trump led his remarks on the country’s first manned rocket launch in nearly a decade with some harsh words for civil rights protesters around the country demanding police accountability.
“My administration will stop mob violence, and we’ll stop it cold,” Trump said from Florida hours after ordering the Pentagon to put military police on alert for potential deployment to the demonstration sites.
Civil rights protests, most of them peaceful, have taken place all week in cities across the country following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody; four police officers were later fired.
He tweeted threats to the protesters early Friday morning, writing, ”[W]hen the looting starts, the shooting starts,” a phrase used by a racist Miami police chief during the height of civil war protests in the 1960s.
“We support the overwhelming majority of police officers who are incredible in every way and devoted public servants,” Trump said.
