The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Trump tweets on Minneapolis condemned
WASHINGTON — Words matter.
The words of President Donald Trump and George Floyd have pushed the nation to another moment of reckoning.
Twitter this week flexed its control over Trump’s most important megaphone by placing a warning over one of his tweets for glorifying violence and attaching a factchecking label to a pair of his other tweets.
It was the first time a social media company has sanctioned a U.S. president for speech on its platform.
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that there is “no way” that mail-in voting would “be anything less than substantially fraudulent” and claimed the widespread use of absentee ballots during a pandemic would result in a “rigged election.”
Researchers have repeatedly found that instances of ballot fraud are extremely rare and five states — including those with Republican and Democratic governors — conduct all elections by mail. Twitter attached a label to Trump’s tweet directing viewers where to find factual information about mail-in voting.
The Trump administration responded with an executive order Thursday aimed at attacking what many Republicans believe is a bias by social media platforms against conservative views. He issued an executive order targeting a portion of federal law that gives legal immunity to websites concerning content on their curated platforms. As Trump himself acknowledged, his order is likely to face legal challenges.
But he said the move was to “defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called the order a “demogogic meataxe.”
“This executive order is egregiously excessive with clearly malevolent intent to suppress free speech,” Blumenthal, whose had his own qualms with social media policies, said. “It is a blatant attempt to use the full power of the United States government to force private companies to lie for him.”
Hours later, around 1 a.m. Friday, Trump tweeted again, as protesters gathered in the streets of Minneapolis, outraged by the tragic death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by police days earlier. Some of the protestors were peaceful. Some engaged in looting. Some stormed a Minneapolis police station and burned it down.
Trump called the protestors “thugs” and said the government would use the military to retake control, saying “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter placed a shield over the tweet that viewers had to read before seeing the message because the tweet “violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence.” Twitter also blocked comments and likes on the tweet.
Trump’s language has roots. It is phrase borrowed from the Miami chief of police in 1967, who threatened that police would use guns and dogs to stop civil unrest in black neighborhoods. It is a phrase that acknowledges police brutality and flames racial tensions.
“I’ve let the word filter down that when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Chief Walter Headley said.
Trump tried to explain himself further in tweets Friday afternoon.
“Looting leads to shooting, and that’s why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night — or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot,” Trump wrote. “I don’t want this to happen, and that’s what the expression put out last night means.”
He told press later Friday that he did not know the origins of the phrase.
“I’ve heard that phrase for a long time. I don’t know where it came from or where it originated,” Trump said. I wouldn’t know a thing like that,”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, condemned Trump’s tweets.
“Statements like those from President Trump last night — which glorify violence — are divisive,” she said. “Now more than ever, our elected leaders must strive to heal divisions and ensure that justice is served.”
In Minneapolis, state and federal investigators are now examining the events surrounding Floyd’s death.
“The video images of the incident that ended with the death of Mr. Floyd, while in custody of Minneapolis police officers, were harrowing to watch and deeply disturbing,” said U.S. Attorney General William Barr Friday. “I am confident justice will be served.”
Derek Chauvin, the white officer who knelt on the neck of Floyd for eight minutes, including while Floyd was unresponsive, was charged with thirddegree murder and second degree manslaughter Friday. Other police officers were involved in the incident too. The incident was caught on video.
Minneapolis Police also arrested on live television a black CNN reporter, his cameraman and producer, who were covering the protests Thursday night. Those journalists identified themselves as press but were still taken into police custody and then released.
Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Blumenthal and 26 other Senate Democrats called for a Department of Justice investigation into alleged patterns of racial discrimination and violent policing at the Minneapolis Police Department on Friday night.
Police officers around the country have spoken out about the way in which Floyd was killed — a knee forcefully held on the neck. Many police have been trained not to use that tactic because it is dangerous.
“If you do nothing about it, might as well have had a knee on that individual too,” said Chief Tony Reyes, New Haven Police Department, said Friday at a protest in New Haven, one of many taking place around the nation. “We believe that too.”
Trump has spoken to Floyd’s grieving family since his death, Trump told press Friday. He said he expressed his sorrow.
“That was just a horrible thing to witness and to watch,” Trump said. “It certainly looked like there was no excuse for it.”
Heartbroken and disturbed, we, too, mourn the death of George Floyd with Minneapolis and the nation. We mourn the words that became his last.
“I can’t breathe.”