R&I – TXPAT ***.
BY DAVID BRENNAN ON 11/15/20 AT 4:07 AM EST
President Donald Trump has urged police in Washington, D.C., to not “hold back” on protesters who disrupted the so-called “Million MAGA March” this weekend, raising further fears the president is encouraging violence against his political opponents.
Thousands of Trump supporters marched in Washington Saturday, calling for the result of this month’s presidential election to be overturned. The demonstrators echoed false claims by the Trump campaign and its allies of widespread electoral fraud against the president, which they say illegally handed President-Elect Joe Biden victory.
Clashes erupted between counter-protesters and rally attendees on Saturday night. At least 20 people were arrested throughout the day, according to The Washington Post, including four people on gun charges. Two police officers were injured and a man in his 20s was in a critical condition having been stabbed in the back.
Footage from the scene showed people wearing clothes associated with the white supremacist Proud Boys group—which Trump refused to condemn during a presidential debate—clashing with Black Lives Matter racial justice demonstrators and anti-fascist protesters; broadly referred to as “Antifa” but incorrectly defined by Trump and others as a centralized organization.
Captain
Article URL : https://www.newsweek.com/trump-encourages-dc-police-not-hold-back-violence-erupts-after-million-maga-march-1547539