• June 1, Monday night: Tear gas fired on peaceful protesters in Washington D.C.
• Trump: "If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them"
Earlier today, impeached president Donald Trump told "weak" U.S. governors to use more force against protesters. Tonight, Trump has threatened to direct military to attack protesters in the streets of the nation's capital and elsewhere, with lethal force, as the agents carrying out those attacks deem appropriate.
As a massive crowd of protesters crowded the streets near the White House, met with escalating force by police and other law enforcement, Trump spoke in the Rose Garden, and threatened to use military force against Americans in the streets:
At nearly the same moment, Trump spoke in the Rose Garden and vowed to end unrest in major cities across the nation "now," saying that he would deploy the military if state governors refused to call out the National Guard. "Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled," Trump said. "If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them."
More at Reuters:
Police fire rubber bullets, tear gas to disperse peaceful protest near White House
A demonstrator raises their hands next to U.S. Secret Service uniformed division officers during a rally near the White House. Photo by Jonathan Ernst pic.twitter.com/hFQWJOv7G3
— corinne_perkins (@corinne_perkins) June 1, 2020
Trump tells "weak" governors: "If you don't dominate, you're wasting your time"
