I’ll send in military, warns Trump
President’s warning to governors amid protests
PROTESTS: Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the military if state governors do not stamp out violence at protests over police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd.
His warning came as police under federal command forced back peaceful demonstrators with tear gas so he could walk to a church and pose with a Bible.
DONALD TRUMP has threatened to deploy the military if state governors do not stamp out violence at protests over police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd.
The US President’s announcement came as police under federal command forced back peaceful demonstrators in Washington DC by using tear gas so that he could walk to a church and pose with a Bible.
Mr Floyd died last week after he was pinned down by a white police officer who knelt on his neck until he stopped breathing.
His death has sparked fresh global outrage, with protesters taking to streets in cities across the world, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Trump said that if governors throughout America did not deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers to “dominate the streets” the US military would step in to “quickly solve the problem for them”.
A military deployment to US states would mark federal intervention rarely seen in modern American history.
It came as musicians spearheaded an online “blackout” yesterday, with major record labels halting business in protest.
Sony Music, Atlantic Records, Capitol Music Group, Warner Records and Def Jam were among the labels vowing #TheShowMustBePaused, while Radiohead, Mumford & Sons and Peter Gabriel also shared their support on social media.
Back in the UK, Wales’s health minister defended people protesting against the death of Mr Floyd in the United States, saynation
Wales’s Health Minister Vaughan Gething speaking yesterday.
ing the loss of black lives was the “biggest harm” to the country.
Vaughan Gething – who became the first black minister of any of the UK’s devolved governments in 2013 – said America was not alone in appearing to be “going backwards” on race relations and that, though all lives should matter, “in some countries they don’t”.
He added that the US was not alone in seeing a rise in discrimi
GROWING UNREST: against ethnic minorities, saying the same could also be said for the UK.
“I remember growing up and seeing Rodney King, and the way that that drew in riots that took place as well,” he said.
“We have disparities and inequalities within the United Kingdom too. They may not be as stark as in the USA but this matters not just because of where I stand in politics, it matters to me because of who I am.”
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also expressed her solidarity with those wishing to protest but warned of the risks from large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking at her daily briefing in Edinburgh, she said: “What I would say to those who want to protest, and I say this as an ally and supporter, is that we need to find ways of allowing people to make their voices heard and to make the points that many of us want to be made and to be heard right now – but to do so in a way that is safe and is not putting people protesting or wider communities at risk.”
More than 5,600 people are now estimated to have been arrested in the US since the protests began, with violent scenes including arson and looting being witnessed across the country, particularly in New York state.
We have inequalities within the United Kingdom too.