President Trump on Saturday blamed at-times violent protests that took place across the U. S. a day earlier on Antifa and other left-wing groups -- as Minnesota officials claimed that white supremacists and even drug cartels were involved in stoking violence.
“It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!” Trump tweeted Saturday, referring to far-left violent groups who often describe themselves as “anti-fascist.”
On Friday night, protests and riots broke out across the country in response to the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd's death while in police custody earlier this week. Video emerged of a police officer pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck, what protesters have called another incidence of police brutality against black men.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Saturday he has authorized "full mobilization" of the state's National Guard -- something that has never been done in the 164-year history of the Minnesota National Guard -- in response to the protests that have turned increasingly violent.
Later, speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Trump said a “lot of radical left, bad people” were to blame for the violence in Minneapolis and elsewhere and said “they have to be tougher” fighting back against the rioters.
“We can have our military there very quickly,” he said. “They've got to be tough, they've got to be strong, they've got to be respected, because these people, these Antifa -- it’s a lot of radical left, bad people -- and they've got to be taught that you can't do this.”
Meanwhile Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other officials have suggested that organized outsiders, including but not limited to anarchists, white supremacists and gangs from other states, were behind the destruction and chaos in Minneapolis.
“We are now confronting white supremacists, members of organized crime, out of state instigators, and possibly even foreign actors to destroy and destabilize our city and our region,” Frey tweeted Saturday.
Asked if he was aware of reports that white supremacists had been involved in the looting, Walz said that based on his “suspicions and what I... (Read more)
Tweets mentioned:
https://twitter.com/user/status/1266760009872007171
Submitted 1397 days ago
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