Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey hit back at Donald Trump after the president called him “weak”
and posted a tweet suggesting that looters could be shot by the National Guard.
At 11 p.m. Thursday a Minneapolis police station near where George Floyd was violently detained by officers was set on fire, following a fourth night of looting.
Floyd died after the arrest, and four officers were fired.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump tweeted early on Friday morning.
Frey should “get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right,” Trump said. He added that: “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Twitter placed a new “glorifying violence” label on the tweet
, further escalating an existing conflict between the network and the White House over how the president’s posts should be presented.
Frey responded to Trump’s attack, in which the president described him as “very weak,” during a Friday morning
“Let me say this. Weakness is refusing to take responsibility for your own actions. Weakness is pointing your finger at someone else in a time of crisis,” Frey said.
“Donald Trump knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis. We are strong as hell.”
“Is this a difficult time period? Yes. But you better be damn sure we’re going to get through this.”
Frey’s request for support from state troopers and the National Guard
was accepted by Governor Tim Walz
on Thursday.
At the press conference, Frey was also asked what he was doing to address
but was vague in his response.
“There is a lot of pain and anger right now in our city,” he said.
Protest in Minneapolis over George Floyd’s death.J.D. Duggan
“What we have seen over the past several few hours and the past couple of nights in terms of looting is unacceptable. Our communities cannot and will not tolerate it. These are community institutions that we need.”
“We are doing everything we can to keep the peace,” he said.
Volunteers have taken to
cleaning up the wreckage in Minneapolis.
On Monday, a white police offer was recorded kneeling on the neck of Floyd — a banned tactic — while Floyd shouted “I can’t breathe.” Floyd was confirmed dead shortly afterwards.
A chain portrait of George Floyd is part of the memorial for him, Wednesday, May 27, 2020, near the site of the arrest of Floyd who died in police custody Monday night in Minneapolis after video shared online by a bystander showed a white officer kneeling on his neck during his arrest as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.AP Photo/Jim Mone
The officer,
, have been fired. Protesters are calling for murder charges against them.
On Thursday, presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president Joe Biden —
who has struggled to win the support of black voters said
“people all across this country are enraged and rightly so.”
“Everyday African Americans go about their lives with constant anxiety and trauma of wondering, ‘Will I be next?’ Sounds like an exaggeration but it’s not,” he said.Read the original article on Insider
Credit: news.phxfeeds.com
