Elizabeth Warren: Trump Calling for 'Illegal, State-Sponsored Killing'
by Joshua CaplanSen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Friday accused President Donald Trump of advocating for “illegal, state-sponsored killing” after the president threatened to use the National Guard to crack down on riots in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“Donald Trump is calling for violence against Black Americans,” Warren, who is under consideration as a possible running mate for Joe Biden, wrote on social media. “His advocacy of illegal, state-sponsored killing is horrific. Politicians who refuse to condemn it share responsibility for the consequences.”
Late Thursday, rioters set ablaze Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct, the area where Floyd died Monday after now-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck.
In a pair of tweets, President Donald Trump condemned the riots, warning, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
“I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right,” the president tweeted.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” he added.
Twitter placed a warning notice on President Trump’s second tweet, alleging it “violates our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today.”