[ad_1]
MANCHESTER, NH (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump on Friday called “bullies” the people who protested in Washington Thursday night while delivering his speech accepting the presidential nomination to the Republican National Convention. from the White House.
Addressing supporters in New Hampshire, Trump said people who attended his White House speech “approached a group of thugs … They were not friendly protesters. They were thugs.”
Anti-Trump protesters rallied outside the White House when Trump delivered his speech, blowing horns that could on occasion be heard by attendees of the speech.
Like many other American cities, Washington and the streets near the White House have seen frequent demonstrations against police brutality and racism since George Floyd, a black man, was assassinated by a white Minneapolis cop who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.
This week, Kenosha, Wisconsin, was swept up in civil unrest and violence after police shot and wounded a black man, Jacob Blake, in front of three of his sons.
Trump, who presents himself as a law-and-order candidate in his November reelection bid, has called for a vigorous crackdown on the protests.
On Thursday night, a crowd of protesters invaded Republican Senator Rand Paul as he was leaving the White House after hearing Trump’s speech.
Video posted online shows a crowd surrounding Paul, his wife, and the police. A man repeatedly yells “say his name,” in reference to Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in March in Kentucky, the state Paul represents. At no point does it show that Paul was physically attacked.
Trump praised Washington police for protecting Paul, but criticized the city’s Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, for what he said were “bad instructions” he gave the police.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; writing by Mohammad Zargham; editing by Sandra Maler)
[ad_2]
