Before his first mass rally since the beginning of the Corona crisis in the USA, US President Trump issued a sharp warning to participants in protests. “All protesters, anarchists, troublemakers, looters or rabble who come to Oklahoma, please understand that you are not treated like in New York, Seattle or Minneapolis,” wrote Trump on Twitter on Friday.
He was alluding to what he saw as the lax reactions of some states to demonstrations as a result of the death of the African American George Floyd, which initially led to riots.
Trump will appear on Saturday evening (7:00 p.m. local time – 2:00 a.m. CEST on Sunday) in Tulsa, Oklahoma – while protests against racism and police violence in the country continue and the corona pandemic continues. The city had initially imposed a nocturnal curfew until Sunday for fear of unrest, but mayor GT Bynum lifted it again according to media reports.
The city administration assumes that more than 100,000 people could gather. Counter-demonstrations are also planned. Police chief Karen Keith told CNN: “We have a beautiful city and I just don’t want to see it destroyed”. She asked all visitors to treat Tulsa well.
Six members of Trump’s campaign team tested positive
Because of the ongoing corona pandemic, the organizers announced that participants would have a fever and that disinfectants and masks would be issued. However, it is highly questionable whether the participants in the crowd – especially within the closed arena – can keep enough distance from one another. Trump recently boasted that no space would remain free.
A few hours before the start of the controversial event, Trump’s campaign team announced that six members of the team who organized his planned appearance on site had tested positive for the novel corona virus and had been immediately quarantined. The communications chief for the US president’s re-election campaign, Tim Murtaugh, said none of the employees who tested positive, “or anyone in direct contact with them”, would attend the event.
The appearance of Trump (7 p.m. local time; Sunday 2 a.m. CEST) in front of tens of thousands of fans in a hall is controversial for several reasons: The health authorities fear a large number of new coronavirus infections if so many people come together, and Tulsa was the place almost 100 years ago one of the worst black massacres in recent US history.
A white mob is estimated to have killed up to 300 African Americans there in 1921. Protests from counter-demonstrators are expected around Trump’s campaign appearance. The mayor has imposed a night curfew on parts of the city center.
[Mehr zum Thema: USA – es fällt verdammt schwer, dieses extreme Land zu lieben]
The corona pandemic has developed worryingly in almost half of the states in the United States. In many regions, the number of new infections every day recently reached highs – including Oklahoma. In the Tulsa district, the level has been significantly higher in the past ten days than in the weeks since March.
White House spokeswoman accuses media of hypocrisy
Participants in the Trump rally on Saturday had to agree when registering that the organizers cannot be held liable for Covid-19 disease and possible consequences.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany assured that the Trump event would be safe. At the same time, she accused the media of hypocrisy because the mass protests against racism and police violence in the past few weeks after the death of George Floyd were accompanied less critically.
These demonstrations, sometimes by tens of thousands across the country, seem to have had little influence on the new infections so far. This could also be due to the fact that they run in the open air, often keeping the participants at a distance and wearing masks.
Tusla was the scene of a massacre
Trump had also drawn displeasure with his performance plans because he actually wanted to hold the rally on Friday, when “Juneteenth” is being celebrated in the USA – the end of slavery 155 years ago.
From New York to Chicago to Oakland, the rallies, marches and car parades on the occasion of “Juneteenth” day were dominated by protests against police brutality and discrimination. “Juneteeth” is made up of the English words for “June” and “nineteenth” – “June” and “nineteenth”.
Tulsa was also the scene of a massacre of the black population by a white mob on June 1, 1921. Historians consider this to be the worst incident of its kind in the United States since the end of the Civil War. Hundreds of people were killed then. Given the originally planned date and Tulsa as the location, Trump had been accused of encouraging right-wing extremists.
[Mit dem Newsletter „Twenty/Twenty“ begleiten unsere US-Experten Sie jeden Donnerstag auf dem Weg zur Präsidentschaftswahl. Hier geht es zur kostenlosen Anmeldung: tagesspiegel.de/twentytwenty.]
Republican Trump is running for a second term in the November presidential election. The corona crisis almost brought the election campaign to a standstill – Trump’s last rally took place in March. According to campaign manager Brad Parscale, tens of thousands of people will now be able to attend the event in Tulsa, which will be held inside and outside an arena.
There are several places on the premises where the president can speak, Parscale told Fox News on Friday. The election campaign event will resemble a festival.
The city of Tulsa said there were indications that members of organized groups who had been involved in “destructive and violent” actions in other states were planning to come to the city to cause disturbance around the rally. (dpa / Reuters)
–
