Trump vows to get Minneapolis protesters ‘under control’

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President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order aimed at curbing protections for social media giants, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Protesters gather in front of the burning Minneapolis police 3rd Precinct building Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody Monday, broke out in Minneapolis for a third straight night. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday 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’s tweet — which was flagged by Twitter for violating rules about “glorifying violence” — came after protesters torched a Minneapolis police station, capping three days of violence over the death of George Floyd, who was captured on video pleading for air as a white police officer knelt on his neck.

Trump said he’d spoken to the state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, and “told him that the Military is with him all the way.”