President Donald Trump has said he would protect officers who “fight back” against unlawful Protestants during a speech on Friday night.
The president made the remarks during a mini-rally at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey with members of the New York City Police Benevolent Association (NYCPBA), the largest police union representing NYPD officials. , attended, Mediaite reported.
Trump began his speech by pointing out several recent incidents where police have been attacked by members of the public. These included a NYPD sergeant who was beaten by a hit-and-run driver in the Bronx, a woman who threw a Molotov cocktail at a Brooklyn police car during a protest in George Floyd and an incident where three officers were attacked on the Brooklyn Bridge.
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“You must not fight back, you fight back, you lose your pension. You lose your life. They put you in jail, you fight back,” Trump said. “No, you need to be able to fight back.”
The president then apparently referred to an incident in which two NYPD officials were dancing with water while breaking meetings around open fire hydrants, although this happened in July, 2019 – for the assassination of George Floyd and the subsequent nationwide protests.
“I do not want to embarrass anyone, but one of the saddest things, Rudy [Giuliani,] “I once saw that was when they dumped water on the heads of two of your fellow officers and I wish they fought back,” Trump said. I promise nothing would have happened to her. “
“Because who even knows it was water, it could have been a lot of other things. But it could have been some dangerous material, not water,” he said. “And they did not fight back, the first time I ever saw that. I wanted them to do that, I wanted them to do that.”
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JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
The president then went on to say that he would have offered protection to the officers involved if they fought back.
“I wish I could talk to her, I say ‘Fight back,’ I swear you’re protected, ‘Trump said.
The dozens of active and retired NYPD officers who attended then erupted in a round of applause.
Trump has repeatedly branded “terrorists” anti-racism protesters in the United States and has come under heavy criticism for his heavy-handed response to the protests that have plagued the nation since the assassination of George Floyd. The president has even threatened to send the U.S. military into some states to deal with Protestants.
