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Comment by devtul

5 years ago

Is the POTUS clearly inciting violence or is it another instance of people having a wild interpretation of what he said? I'm so tired of this dynamic that I don't even bother anymore.

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devtul

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dastx  5 years ago

Judge for yourself, the exact tweet is:

> 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!

Worth noting that this is a quote from former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley. In '67, he said the phrase "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" during racially charged protests.

sammalloy  5 years ago

> Is the POTUS clearly inciting violence or is it another instance of people having a wild interpretation of what he said?

The POTUS unambiguously quoted racist Miami police chief Walter Headley who called for violence against African Americans during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. This couldn’t be a more clear example of inciting violence.

throwlaplace  5 years ago

really? wild interpretation? it's a weird construction that's widely known to have been used by the police chief during similar circumstances? how big does the donkey have to be before you pin the tail on it? i wager there could be a video of trump composing the tweet with a biography of the police chief in view and open to the page with those words and you'd still claim to doubt the intent.

it's exhausting having to take this kind of bad faith skepticism seriously.