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Reactions to the George Floyd protests
Individuals and organizations throughout the United States and the world responded to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots.
On May 27, 2020, U.S. president Donald Trump tweeted "At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd...."
On May 29, Trump responded to the riots by threatening to send in the National Guard, adding that "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts." The tweet was interpreted as quoting former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in December 1967, as Miami saw escalating tensions and racial protests aimed at the 1968 Republican National Convention. Trump's use of the quote was seen by Twitter as an incitement of violence; Twitter placed the tweet behind a public interest notice for breaching its terms of service in regards to incitement of violence. The next day, Trump commented on his original tweet, saying, "Looting leads to shooting, and that's why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don't want this to happen, and that's what the expression put out last night means...."
In a series of tweets on May 31, Trump blamed the press for fomenting the protests and said journalists are "truly bad people with a sick agenda".
On June 1, in a teleconference with state governors, Trump said they had been "weak" in their response to the unrest and insisted that they "have to dominate ... You've got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you'll never see this stuff again." He later proclaimed in the White House Rose Garden, "I am your president of law and order" and said he was "dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers" to deal with rioting in Washington, D.C. Trump and an entourage subsequently departed the White House and walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, whose basement had been damaged by fire, and posed for pictures in front of it holding up a Bible. Police and federal agents had used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of nonviolent protesters from Lafayette Square to ensure an extension of area protective fencing. The forceful clearing of protesters had been originally understood to involve creating a route for Trump to walk down to the St John's Episcopal church where he then staged a photo op with the Bible, an event that initially drew widespread condemnation from military and religious leaders, as well as fellow Republicans. He was later cleared of wrongdoing by an investigative report. Four days after this event Washington D.C. renamed the street corner in front of St. John's Church "Black Lives Matter Plaza" and painted "BLACK LIVES MATTER" in large, yellow letters stretching from Lafayette Square north for two blocks.
During Trump's second presidency, in early 2025, the FBI reassigned about 20 agents who had been photographed kneeling during a protest in 2020. The agents were fired later that year.
Republican Senators Ben Sasse (NE), Susan Collins (ME), Tim Scott (SC), and Lisa Murkowski (AK), along with Congressional Democrats including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY), criticized President Trump's handling of the protests. Many other Congressional Republicans either defended the Trump administration's actions or avoided directly responding to questions about the forced clearance of Lafayette Square.
In response to the protests, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued that extremists from the far-left and the far-right wanted to use the unrest to take aim at civil society and could potentially start a Second American Civil War.
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Reactions to the George Floyd protests AI simulator
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Reactions to the George Floyd protests
Individuals and organizations throughout the United States and the world responded to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and riots.
On May 27, 2020, U.S. president Donald Trump tweeted "At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd...."
On May 29, Trump responded to the riots by threatening to send in the National Guard, adding that "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts." The tweet was interpreted as quoting former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in December 1967, as Miami saw escalating tensions and racial protests aimed at the 1968 Republican National Convention. Trump's use of the quote was seen by Twitter as an incitement of violence; Twitter placed the tweet behind a public interest notice for breaching its terms of service in regards to incitement of violence. The next day, Trump commented on his original tweet, saying, "Looting leads to shooting, and that's why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don't want this to happen, and that's what the expression put out last night means...."
In a series of tweets on May 31, Trump blamed the press for fomenting the protests and said journalists are "truly bad people with a sick agenda".
On June 1, in a teleconference with state governors, Trump said they had been "weak" in their response to the unrest and insisted that they "have to dominate ... You've got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you'll never see this stuff again." He later proclaimed in the White House Rose Garden, "I am your president of law and order" and said he was "dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers" to deal with rioting in Washington, D.C. Trump and an entourage subsequently departed the White House and walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, whose basement had been damaged by fire, and posed for pictures in front of it holding up a Bible. Police and federal agents had used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of nonviolent protesters from Lafayette Square to ensure an extension of area protective fencing. The forceful clearing of protesters had been originally understood to involve creating a route for Trump to walk down to the St John's Episcopal church where he then staged a photo op with the Bible, an event that initially drew widespread condemnation from military and religious leaders, as well as fellow Republicans. He was later cleared of wrongdoing by an investigative report. Four days after this event Washington D.C. renamed the street corner in front of St. John's Church "Black Lives Matter Plaza" and painted "BLACK LIVES MATTER" in large, yellow letters stretching from Lafayette Square north for two blocks.
During Trump's second presidency, in early 2025, the FBI reassigned about 20 agents who had been photographed kneeling during a protest in 2020. The agents were fired later that year.
Republican Senators Ben Sasse (NE), Susan Collins (ME), Tim Scott (SC), and Lisa Murkowski (AK), along with Congressional Democrats including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY), criticized President Trump's handling of the protests. Many other Congressional Republicans either defended the Trump administration's actions or avoided directly responding to questions about the forced clearance of Lafayette Square.
In response to the protests, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued that extremists from the far-left and the far-right wanted to use the unrest to take aim at civil society and could potentially start a Second American Civil War.