As the US state of Minneapolis burns during a third night of protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, US President Donald Trump has threatened to call in the National Guard after labeling the protesters “thugs” and blaming the Mayor Jacob Frey of losing control over the city.
Trump has now turned what was a racial war into a social media war after the social media giant added a fact-check label to a pair of his tweets after blaming him for promoting violence.
Twitter said Friday that President Donald Trump violated its rules against glorifying violence when he tweeted about protests over the death of George Floyd. The company, which is already embroiled in a dispute with the president over what is acceptable on the platform, did not remove the tweet but placed a fact check label on it.
In the tweet, Trump warned protesters that he is going to send the military to calm the storm in Minneapolis and shoot rioters who have started looting.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!,” the American President tweeted.
This tweet did not go well with twitter, they added a fact-check label to a pair of his tweets warning that he had violated twitter rules against glorifying violence.
“This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible,” a message from twitter attached to Trump’s message said.
A defiant Trump added, “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.”
He later turned guns on twitter bosses, “Twitter is doing nothing about all of the lies & propaganda being put out by China or the Radical Left Democrat Party. They have targeted Republicans, Conservatives & the President of the United States. Section 230 should be revoked by Congress. Until then, it will be regulated!”
He tweeted, ““The President has been targeted by Twitter.” What about all of the lies and fraudulent statements made by Adam Schiff, and so many others, on the Russian Witch Hunt Plus, Plus, Plus? What about China’s propaganda? WHO’s mistakes? No flags?”
“Regulate Twitter if they are going to start regulating free speech.” Well, as they have just proven conclusively, that’s what they are doing. Repeal Section 230!!!” he said.
![](https://www.thegrapevine.co.ug/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Floyd.jpg)
George Floyd who was killed by Mineapolis police officers
THE INCIDENT
George Floyd, an African American man who’d already suffered the loss of his job to the coronavirus crisis, died in police custody in Minneapolis this week. Video of the incident showed he was handcuffed and restrained by an officer who dug his knee into his neck for several minutes, while Floyd pleaded, saying he couldn’t breathe.
Floyd died at the hospital late on Monday after a white police officer, knelt on the 46-year-old’s neck for several minutes as Floyd moaned and yelled: “I can’t breathe.”
A video of the incident shows Floyd pleading with police and eventually appearing motionless as the officer’s knee remained on his neck. Bystanders can be heard urging the officer to get off of Floyd.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joined calls for the officer who pinned Floyd down to be arrested, asking: “Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail?”
![](https://www.thegrapevine.co.ug/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Protesters-in-Mineapolis.jpg)
Protesters in Minneapolis
Medaria Arradondo, the city’s first Black police chief, swiftly fired the four officers involved, a move community leader acknowledged as “a win”, but said should only be the first step.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the FBI are both investigating the incident.
The Minneapolis Police Department said on Tuesday Floyd “physically resisted officers”.
However, another Security camera footage, obtained by CBS News, shows Floyd sitting on the ground with his hands behind his back and then walking with police out of frame.
It is unclear what happens between the time Floyd and police walk out of the frame and the time when a bystander’s video shows an officer pinning Floyd down to the ground with his knee.
WHAT DOES TWITTER SAY ABOUT VIOLENT THREATS?
According to twitter, Violence against an individual or a group of people or the glorification of violence is prohibited.
“Healthy conversation is only possible when people feel safe from abuse and don’t resort to using violent language. For this reason, we have a policy against threatening violence on Twitter. We define violent threats as statements of an intent to kill or inflict serious physical harm on a specific person or group of people,” they state.
They add, “We will immediately and permanently suspend any account found to be posting violent threats. In rare cases, we may not suspend an account immediately. For example, if the reported content is a form of hyperbolic speech. In such cases, we may require you to remove this content. We may also temporarily lock you out of your account before you can Tweet again. If you continue to violate this policy after receiving a warning, your account will be permanently suspended.”
However, even though Trump’s tweet violated the rules, his tweet fell in the category of public interest.
“Twitter generally actions Tweets that violate our rules. However, we recognize that sometimes it may be in the public interest to allow people to view Tweets that would otherwise be taken down. We consider content to be in the public interest if it directly contributes to understanding or discussion of a matter of public concern,” their policy statement states.
It adds, “At present, we limit exceptions to one critical type of public-interest content—Tweets from elected and government officials—given the significant public interest in knowing and being able to discuss their actions and statements.”
POLICE OFFICER FINALLY ARRESTED
Meanwhile, Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer shown on video putting his knee on the neck of George Floyd was arrested on Friday and faces charges of 3rd-degree murder and manslaughter, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced.
Freeman said he anticipated more charges to come, possibly against some of the other three officers.
By Grapevine Reporters
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