As protestors continue to march seeking justice for George Floyd, US president Donald Trump addressed the nation saying he will deploy ‘thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers’ to combat the protestors. Tanzia Haq reports.
Cities across America are imposing curfews to control the mass protests that have broken out since 26 May after the death of George Floyd under police brutality. But President Trump stood at the White House’s rose garden and declared that he will be mobilizing the military to take action against protestors, huge groups of whom have remained peaceful. Trump’s announcement has so far not received any pushback from the US Defense department.
In a move criticized by many, after his speech Trump walked through Lafayette Park, made clear with the use of tear gas and rubber bullets moments before by the National Guard, to have a photo-op before St. John’s Episcopal Church. Trump held up a Bible and posed as journalists snapped his photo, ignoring questions from reporters standing by about his extreme stance on the protests. D.C. Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde condemned Trump for using the church as a “backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.”
The police chief in Arlington County, Virginia also commented that he had to pull his officers from DC after clearing the park because their safety was put at risk for the president’s photo-op done mainly to appease right-wing supporters and attempt to create a strong façade over an administration unable to stop the institution of law and order in the country from crumbling.
