President Donald Trump on Friday, in a controversial tweet about the riots in Minneapolis, on which Twitter marked a warning, quoted the words of a former Miami police chief known for violent reprisals against black protesters in the 1960s.
The phrase "when looting begins, shooting begins", which Trump wrote on Twitter warning the protesters, the Twitter company put a warning sign on it, but it did not block it, and said the tweet "violated Twitter's rules about glorifying violence."
Amelia Gooding, the writer for Britain's The Daily Mail, says the Trump tweet repeated the words used by late Miami police chief Walter Headley, who was famous for his "be strict" policy against black protesters during riots in the 1960s.
"We have not had any serious problems with the civil uprising and looting, because I have published the fact that when looting begins, shooting begins," Headley told a news conference in December 1967. Headley noted, "We have no objection if we are accused of police brutality. They have not seen anything yet."
Riots
The writer clarified that Headley's words angered black leaders at the time, as his quotation and his aggressive policies against blacks were cited as major factors contributing to the outbreak of ethnic riots during the late 1960s, especially in 1968 when Republicans landed in Minneapolis to attend their party convention.
Trump called the demonstrators in Minneapolis a "bandit" and threatened to send the National Guard and get the "job done right". He said in his tweet: '... These bandits insult George Floyd's memory, and I won't let that happen. I just spoke to Governor Tim Walls and told him that the military supported him all the way. If we face any difficulty, we will assume control, but when looting begins, shooting begins. thank you!".