Minneapolis protests: Twitter hides Trump riot tweet for ‘glorifying violence’

Twitter has attached a disclaimer to one of US President Donald Trump’s tweets about unrest in Minneapolis which it says breaks its rules.

A protester runs in front of the burning 3rd Precinct building of the Minneapolis Police Department, as riots broke out again over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody. Picture: AP

Twitter has accused US President Donald Trump of “glorifying violence”, attaching a disclaimer to one of his tweets about unrest in Minneapolis which it says breaks its rules.

It came amid a third day of demonstrations as the so-called Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul seethed over the shocking police killing of a handcuffed black man.

....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. Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020

The social media company posted a warning before the tweet by Donald Trump which said “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”.

The warning said “This tweet violated the Twitter rules about glorifying violence”.

It is still available to view, only because “Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible”.

In the tweet, Mr Trump said he would call in the National Guard to bring protests in Minneapolis under control.

We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet from @realdonaldtrump. https://t.co/6RHX56G2zt

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020

Police precinct up in flames

Earlier, police precinct in Minnesota went up in flames in a third day of demonstrations as the so-called Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul seethed over the shocking police killing of a handcuffed black man.

The precinct, which police had abandoned, burned after a group of protesters pushed through barriers around the building, breaking windows and chanting slogans. A much larger crowd demonstrated as the building went up in flames.

The crowd was protesting the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after Minneapolis police arrested him on Monday on suspicion of using a counterfeit banknote. Police handcuffed him and held him to the ground, with a bystander video showing an officer pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck.

The videos showed Floyd saying that he couldn’t breathe until he went silent and limp. He was later declared dead.

Hundreds of people had begun marching in Minneapolis in the late afternoon — many wear masks as protection against the novel coronavirus — while in St. Paul, just to the east, police said there was ongoing looting as multiple fires were reported.

But later in the evening a large crowd demonstrated outside the city’s Third Precinct.

“Shortly after 10:00pm tonight, in the interest of the safety of our personnel, the Minneapolis Police Department evacuated the 3rd Precinct of its staff,” city police said in a statement. Probe under way

The US President Donald Trump weighed in heavily on the riots and said he would call in the National Guard to “bring the city under control”.

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.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020

“I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis,” President Trump tweeted.

“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 labelled protestors as “thugs” and said they “dishonored” the memory of George Floyd.

“Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way,” he tweeted.

“Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

The US Attorney’s Office and the FBI in Minneapolis said on Thursday they were conducting “a robust criminal investigation” into the death.

President Donald Trump said he had asked for an investigation to be expedited.

Officials assured angry residents that investigations into Floyd’s death were underway, and warned that violence would not be tolerated.

“We know there’s a lot of anger. We know there’s a lot of hurt,” said St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtel.

“But we can’t tolerate people using this as an opportunity to commit crimes,” he said.

At the request of both cities, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called up hundreds of National Guard troops and state police to help with security.

“George Floyd’s death should lead to justice and systemic change, not more death and destruction,” Walz said.

Outrage spreads

Floyd’s family demanded the officer and three others who were present, all since fired from their jobs, face murder charges.

“You know, I want an arrest for all four of those officers tonight. A murder conviction for all four of those officers. I want the death penalty,” Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, told CNN.

“I have not slept in four days, and those officers, they’re at home sleeping,” he said. “I can’t stand for that.” “But people are torn and hurting because they are tired of seeing black men die, constantly, over and over again.” Two African American leaders of national stature, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, arrived in Minneapolis and urged more protests.

“We told the governor you must call murder a murder,” Jackson told an audience at the Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.

“When you put... your foot down somebody’s neck until they can’t breathe no longer, you murdered them,” he said.

Sharpton said videos were all the evidence needed to arrest the police officers involved.

“We are going to make sure that this prosecution goes down,” said Sharpton.

Case is ‘top priority’

Local and federal investigators said they were working the explosive case as fast as they could.

“The Department of Justice has made the investigation in this case a top priority,” said Erica MacDonald, the US federal attorney for Minnesota.

“To be clear, President (Donald) Trump, as well as Attorney General William Barr, are directly and actively monitoring the investigation in this case.” The White House said Trump was “very upset” upon seeing the “egregious, appalling” video footage and demanded his staff see that the investigation was given top priority.

“He wants justice to be served,” Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters.

Tear gas and rubber bullets

Demonstrators clashed with law enforcement, looted stores and set fires to shops and a construction site overnight Wednesday in the busy Lake Street corridor of Minneapolis, and were met with police tear gas and rubber bullets.

One person died of a gunshot wound, and police were reportedly investigating whether he was shot by a store owner.

Some stores, including Minneapolis-based Target, afterwards announced they would close multiple locations, as the US Postal Service suspended service to some areas and bus services were discontinued through the weekend in parts of the city.

Floyd’s killing evoked memories of riots in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 after a policeman shot dead an African American man suspected of robbery, and the case earlier the same year of New Yorker Eric Garner, who died after New York police put him in an illegal chokehold as they tried to detain him for selling cigarettes.

Sympathy protests erupted in other cities.

Several hundred people demonstrated in New York’s Union Square on Thursday, leading to at least five arrests.

In Los Angeles, where there are longstanding tensions between law enforcement and black residents, protesters marched Wednesday on downtown and briefly blocked a major freeway.

Activists were planning a rally Friday in downtown Washington near the White House.

And protesters gathered in Denver, Colorado and Phoenix, Arizona Thursday evening, according to CNN.

Ilhan Omar, a black Somalia native who represents Minneapolis in Congress, called for calm but said there was “extreme frustration” in the community over the incident.

“Anger really is boiling over because justice still seems out of reach,” she said.

AFP

Additional reporting: Angelica Snowden