The future candidate for the Presidency of the United States by the Democratic Party, Joe Biden, has accused the President of the country, Donald Trump, of fomenting violence among the population at a time of extreme racial tension after the death of a black citizen during an arrest.
The death this week of George Floyd in Minneapolis after spending several minutes with his neck pinned to the knee of a police officer has sparked protests, riots and looting in the most populous city in the state of Minnesota, now under a state of emergency.
This Friday, Trump has described some of these participants as thugs and warned that “when the looting begins, the shooting begins”, paraphrasing the former chief of Miami Police, Walter Headley, protagonist during the 1960s of several acts of police brutality.
The Twitter platform, in response, has concealed the president’s tweet for “glorifying violence” in an unprecedented measure, although it has decided not to delete it for reasons of public interest.
Biden, through his own account, has repudiated the president’s comments. “I am not going to fuel the president’s tweet. I am not going to amplify it. But he is calling violence against American citizens at a time of great pain for many people. I am furious, and you should be, too,” he wrote.
In a new message below, the candidate has also protested the temporary arrest of CNN journalist Omar Jimenez and his team by the Minnesota State Police while covering the protests. The journalists were released soon after.
“This is not abstract: a black journalist has been arrested for doing his job this morning, while the police officer who killed George Floyd is still free. I’m glad that quick steps have been taken (for his release) but this, for me, it says it all, “he lamented.
