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The president of United States, Donald Trump, On Tuesday he described the violent protests against the police as “domestic terrorism”, in statements made from Kenosha, a town shaken by protests against racism since the police shot a black man.
“Kenosha has been devastated by anti-American riots against the police (…) these are not acts of a peaceful protest, they are domestic terrorism,” he said, alluding to the protests and riots that took over this small town in Wisconsin, a key state. for the November elections, to which he intends to bring his “law and order” mantra.
Trump arrived in Kenosha ignoring requests to the contrary from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, amid fears that this would lead to increased tensions.
Meanwhile, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, also a Democrat, said over the weekend that it was not a good time for a presidential visit to this city, where Trump arrived to meet with police authorities and visit the places vandalized after the violence unleashed. since a white policeman shot point-blank at Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, in front of his three sons, leaving him paralyzed.
“We will help them,” the Republican president promised merchants in front of a burned-out store. “These men did a wonderful job,” he added, pointing to police officers posted in front of dilapidated buildings.
During his visit to the city, he announced financing for 1 million dollars for the Kenosha security forces, “so that they have some extra money and go do what they have to do”, in addition to another 4 million dollars for small businesses, after some were damaged or burned in the riots. To this he added a fund of more than 42 million for security at the state level.
The protesters clashed
Trump smiled and greeted supporters who applauded him as his highly guarded convoy passed through the streets of Kenosha as protesters from the movement “Black lives matter” (“Black lives matter”) they booed him.
Both sides exchanged insults and shouted slogans.
Police and the National Guard erected metal barricades along the route that Trump’s caravan would travel.
For months, Trump has sought to change the tread in the race for the White House against Democrat Joe Biden, after being left largely behind by his management of the coronavirus pandemic.
Therefore, he feels much more comfortable in the realm of “law and order” that he trumpets to quell the wave of protests against racism and police brutality towards blacks, after a backlog of cases that have shaken the country.
Microcosm
Kenosha, a small town on the shores of Lake Michigan in the north of the country, has become a microcosm of racial and ideological tensions in the United States almost four years after Trump’s arrival in the White House.
It has been the scene of protests by the anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter, riots and clashes with white armed groups. At the height of the tensions, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old militia supporter, shot dead two people in one protest and wounded another.
Democrats and those calling for police reform see Kenosha as a symbol of institutional racism that leads to deadly confrontations between police officers and black suspects.
And they consider that what happened with Rittenhouse reveals the increase in right-wing militias that increasingly brazenly brandish their weapons and become agents of the law.
Biden accused Trump of “weak” for not asking his followers “to stop acting as an armed militia.”
But Trump denounces what he considers an “anarchy” in cities governed by Democrats and presents himself as the option of “law and order” in the face of the November 3 elections.
“An interesting situation”
The president “will meet with local police and some business owners and assess the damage” from the protests, his spokesperson, Kayleigh McEnany, told reporters.
Trump said he wanted “to see the people who did a good job for me,” alluding to the police units that put down the riots.
And he refused to condemn the murders committed by Rittenhouse, who was driving down the street with a rifle. He considered it “an interesting situation” and said that the teenager reacted because he was attacked.
Trump accuses Biden of weakness in the face of violent protests in cities like Kenosha and Portland, and of not sufficiently denouncing the violence of leftist protesters who oppose institutional racism.
But Biden fought back in a speech Monday by describing his Republican rival as “a toxic presence.”
“Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames instead of fighting them,” he said.
He was also emphatic with violent protesters.
“Looting is not manifesting. Setting fire is not manifesting. None of this has to do with manifesting. It’s mess, period. And those who do must be prosecuted, “he said.
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