Trump retweets video of a white couple waving guns at protesters
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday retweeted a video of a white couple brandishing guns at anti-racism protesters, a day after causing outrage by sharing and then deleting another post showing a supporter chanting “white power.”
In the video from St Lous, Missouri, the lawyer couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey can be seen walking around with their weapons near their upscale home. The man was carrying an AR-51 rifle and the woman had a small handgun — and waving them at protestors. One time, they accidentally pointed their weapons at each other. “Private property,” Mark McCloskey shouted repeatedly at the crowd. “Get out! Private property, get out!”
Protesters were marching to the mayor’s home a block away, to demand her resignation for revealing names and addresses of people who had been calling for defunding the police, a key demand at anti-racism demonstration triggered by the killing of African American George Floyd,
Trump did not add comment to the retweet. Positioning himself as a “law and order” president, he has been calling for punishing protesters and retweeting lookout notices issued by law enforcement against suspects.
On Sunday, he retweeted a video of a supporter chanting “white power”, a racist slogan.
That video was posted by a neighbourhood for seniors in Florida, Trump’s adoptive home state. Trump retweeted it with a brief comment thanking the neighbourhood. And he let it be online for four hours before removing it due to political pressure.