The grumbling against containment is growing in the United States. As protests have taken place in half a dozen states in recent days, Donald Trump, who advocates compliance with the guidelines at the White House desk, appeared to encourage them on Twitter on Friday.
In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the American president targeted three states headed by democratic governors, tweeting, a few minutes apart: "Free Minnesota!" "," Free Michigan! "And" Free Virginia ". For the latter state, he added, with reference to the right of the Americans to bear arms: "And save your formidable second amendment. He is under siege! " Washington State Democratic Governor Jay Inslee was outraged that the presidential tweets encouraged "dangerous and illegal acts".
Armed protesters
These three states are headed by democratic governors who have ordered their residents to stay at home. The pandemic has killed more than 30,000 people in the United States, which on Friday identified nearly 700,000 cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. Michigan has nearly 2,000 deaths, Virginia 208 and Minnesota 87 deaths.
In these states, protesters this week breached the order to stay at home to protest the confinement and call on their governors to reopen the economy. In Minnesota, in St Paul, they were just several hundred Friday gathered under the slogan "Liberate Minnesota" in front of the residence of the governor Tim Walz, according to the local press. In Lansing, capital of Michigan, there were about 3,000 on Wednesday, sometimes armed, to denounce the Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, some carrying banners in favor of Donald Trump, others brandishing semi-automatic rifles.
Democrats denounce incitement to "violence"
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam told him he "doesn't have time to get into wars on Twitter. "My team and I are waging a biological war" against the virus, he told reporters. Northam recently enacted several laws to limit arms sales and increase background checks, which could explain Donald Trump's tweet.
As for the Minnesota leader, Tim Walz, he retorted that his "first responsibility" was to protect the population. "If I thought we could go back to work tomorrow, that's exactly what we would do." "It puts millions of people in danger of catching the Covid-19. His unbalanced tirades and calls to "liberate" states could also lead to violence, "said Jay Inslay.
New protests are scheduled for Saturday, including Concord in New Hampshire, Annapolis in Maryland, Austin in Texas and Colorado. According to a spokesperson for Twitter, these tweets from Donad Trump are too "vague and ambiguous" for the social network to "deduce an intention to harm" and delete them.
- Containment
- Donald trump
- World
- United States
- Coronavirus