Civil rights leaders are calling on Minneapolis officials not to use military force against protestors.
WASHINGTON — Conjuring up memories of police confrontations with protesters during the Civil Rights Movement, national civil rights leaders urged Minneapolis officials not toand called out President Donald Trump for potentially inciting more violence.
“We need officers to not take action that escalates tension. The militarized police presence is not helping the situation,’’ Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law told USA TODAY. “President Trump, meanwhile, is pouring fuel on the fire by literally advocating for deadly violence to be used.” The committee and other civil rights groups, including the NAACP, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Urban League, National Action Network and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., sent a letter late Thursday to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo calling for them to not use military force against protesters. “It is in such times, when tensions are at their highest, that officials should exercise their discretion and lead the way toward peaceful resolution,’’ the leaders wrote. For days, police faced off against people protesting the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in police custody Monday after a white officer held his knee to his neck.Civil rights leaders said they're still calling for police restraint as well as for calm and accountability. “There’s no need to escalate with military force,’’ said Derrick Johnson, head of the national NAACP. “It’s simply an opportunity to enforce the law. The nation has seen with their own eyes a murder being committed in broad daylight by sworn police officers.”Johnson said the police response is reminiscent of mass protests of the past, including in the 1960s, and even some more recent demonstrations in China or Taiwan. “But this is 2020. This is the United States,’’ he said. “We can address issues such as this in a very civil manner because the law is clear.” “This should not be a question of escalating military arms on U.S citizens,’’ he said. “This should be a conversation about enforcing the laws of the state of Minnesota and the U.S. Constitution.”Clarke said officials must understand why people are protesting. “This is a community desperate for accountability,” she said. “We are sounding an alarm and urging restraint and steps that we think can help to prevent escalation. That’s not what we saw in Minnesota.’’ Civil rights leaders pointed to police using tear gas and projectiles against protesters earlier in the week. “This type of militarized response to communities mourning the death of a member only serves to escalate tensions,’’ they wrote.Civil rights leaders said tension was only heightened by“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump tweeted, adding that he had spoken to Gov. 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!” Twitter later posted that the tweet violated its rules about glorifying violence. The administration also posted Trump's tweet on the White House account. Johnson said he appreciated that Twitter stepped up to ensure the platform was not used to incite violence and spread misinformation. “I don’t expect anything more from this president,’’ he said. Civil rights leaders said it’s not the first time Trump hasn’t done enough to clamp down on violence and racial tensions. They pointed to when Trump said “both sides” were to blame for violence during a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 that led to one death, and that there were “very fine people on both sides” at the protests, where white supremacists marched under Confederate and Nazi flags.protesting the stay-at-home for the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak has disproportionately impacted communities of color.Rashad Robinson, the president of racial justice group Color Of Change, echoed that sentiment. “The president’s tweets convey the same ugliness and deep-seated racial hatred that lie at the underpinning of his entire administration," Robinson said."From policing to the pandemic, President Trump has always treated black lives as disposable and as political props. ... Leveling threats against us and leaning into old, racist tropes will only incite more anger and fear." The civil rights groups called for officials not to use military equipment and tear gas and instead use nonlethal approaches, such as warnings and crowd control, to deescalate tensions. They also encouraged officials to better communicate with the media and the public and reach out early to protest organizers. They said officials should turn to community leaders as liaisons. “While the police are working to preserve public safety, they must also remember that they are protecting the constitutional rights of those gathered to demonstrate,’’ they wrote.
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