Trump Suggests ‘MAGA’ Fans Gather at White House, while threatening to clamp down on demonstrations with military.
Trump encouraged his supporters to rally at the White House, inviting a potentially dangerous mix of protesters from both sides.
He threatened “the unlimited power” of the U.S. military to clamp down on demonstrations, the military is “ready, willing and able” to assist, protesters would have been met by “the most vicious dogs” and “most ominous weapons” had they dared to breach the fence around the property.
He depicted Secret Services agents as eager to battle the demonstrators, and later issued an appeal to his supporters to assemble: “Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???”
The Secret Service said that it arrested six people and that “multiple” personnel from the agency were injured when protesters assaulted them with “bricks, rocks, bottles, fireworks and other items.”
Trump said he had “no idea” if his boosters would assemble on Saturday night at the White House.“I heard that MAGA wanted to be there — that a lot of MAGA was going to be there,” Trump also tweeted that “ANTIFA and the Radical Left” were stoking protests against Floyd’s death, a day after saying he understood the “pain” that demonstrators were feeling.
Attack dog Bill Barr made similar comments, tying the protests to “groups of outside radicals and agitators exploiting the situation.”“It is a federal crime to cross state lines or to use interstate facilities to incite or participate in violent rioting. We will enforce these laws,”
Trump said he “watched every move” of Friday’s protests outside the White House, and couldn’t have felt more safe. Had protesters breached the complex’s fence, they would have faced “the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons,” Trump said.
“….got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would…..have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and….”
Friday night’s protests came on a day after Trump appeared to threaten violence against certain demonstrators, tweeting overnight that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” The phrase echoed a remark made in 1967 by a white Miami police chief when announcing tougher policing policies for the Florida city’s black neighborhoods. In a rare reversal, Trump later said his tweet wasn’t intended as a threat, but merely meant to discourage looting that has historically coincided with violence.