After the fall of numerous statues during protests against racism and police violence in the USA, US President Donald Trump canceled his planned golf weekend in his club in New Jersey. He remains in Washington to ensure that “law and order” is enforced, Trump wrote on Friday night (local time).
The “arsonists, anarchists and looters” were largely stopped. However, he would ensure that necessary security measures were taken and that those responsible were held accountable.
Trump signed an order to protect federally owned monuments on Friday, according to the White House. He threatened “long prison terms” for violations.
Trump compares vandals to “terrorists”
Initially, it remained unclear what would change the legal situation. Damage to government property can already be punished with up to ten years in prison. Since the death of African American George Floyd in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis just over a month ago, protests against racism and police violence have been taking place across the country.
Numerous statues of historical figures in the USA, which are associated with racism, were also overthrown.
Trump already compared the overthrow of statues in an interview with terrorism broadcast on Thursday evening (local time) on Fox News. He threatened “retribution” for demonstrators who tried to bring down statues. These demonstrators are vandals and instigators – but in truth “in a way terrorists”.
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In Washington, protesters failed on Monday to overthrow a statue of the seventh President Andrew Jackson. Trump The National Guard then mobilized to protect monuments in the capital.
Since the beginning of the protests following Floyd’s death, Trump has portrayed himself as the president who enforces law and order. He is accused of not taking a clear stand against racism and showing too little understanding of the anger about discrimination and injustice.
Before the presidential election in November, Trump also came under pressure due to the sharp rise in the number of corona infections in the United States. With nearly 40,000 reported cases, the number of new corona infections in the US reached a new high on Thursday, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University. Trump downplayed the increasing number of cases before the record was announced. “If we didn’t test, we wouldn’t have any cases,” the president told Fox News. (dpa)
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