Donald Trump tells state governors to crack down on protests
US president Donald Trump on Monday told state governors to crack down on growing protests across the country against the treatment of African-Americans by police forces.
Speaking to governors on a private call, Trump reportedly told them that they “have to dominate” the protestors.
He said: “If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time – they’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks”.
Dozens of cities across the US have been rocked by a sixth day of protests after unarmed George Floyd was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer last week.
The officer in question, Derek Chauvin, was filmed by an onlooker kneeling on 46-year-old Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes after the man was taken into police custody.
Chauvin has been fired and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
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The US has not seen civil unrest on this scale since the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King in 1968, with the National Guard deployed in 23 states.
The protests started as peaceful demonstrations but have subsequently descended into violence, with fires being lit near the White House and looting in several cities.
Earlier today a truck drove at crowds in Minneapolis before its driver was pulled from his cab.
Trump, who is yet to make a public statement on the protests, has sought to blame the violence on the anti-fascist Antifa movement.
In a string of tweets, the president labelled protestors “thugs” and threatened to use the US military to suppress the outbreaks.
Critics have accused Trump of stoking conflict and racial tensions through his response to the protests.