Police gassed protesters so Trump could get a photo op
Tim Walker, The Guardian
Tue 2 Jun 2020 06.19 EDT
Donald Trump walked from the White House to the nearby St Johns Episcopal church on Monday. Not to worship or pray there, as many presidents have done before, but to pose for a photo holding a copy of the bible aloft. Just beforehand, police had used teargas and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters from his path.
The photo op came shortly after Trump described himself as your president of law and order, and threatened to deploy federal troops to quell the nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd a threat that would require him to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, last used during the LA riots of 1992.
Church leaders responded to his behaviour with outrage, but the president was unrepentant. Also on Monday, he ranted at governors and other officials that they must dominate their states and cities, saying otherwise they would look like a bunch of jerks.
This president has built his entire political career as a gold-painted tower to incite violence, says Richard Wolffe. And in threatening to deploy the military, writes David Smith, Trump has raised the spectre of fascism.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/02/first-thing-police-gassed-protesters-so-trump-could-get-a-photo-op
Are you ready for the shit that is shortly to ensue?