Washington (AFP)

Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to use "substantial force" if protesters tried to establish an "autonomous zone" in Washington, in a tweet that the social network has decided to hide.

Many agents in riot gear spent the day on the streets of the United States capital and evacuated the area around the White House, where protesters have been taking turns for weeks.

"As long as I am your president, there will be no" autonomous zone "in Washington DC. If they try, they will face a substantial force," tweeted the Republican billionaire in the early morning.

Twitter, the president’s favorite platform, then crossed out this message with content that "violates" its rules on "inappropriate content", while allowing users to read it.

"Our rules state that we do not allow people to wish or hope to harm a person or a group of people," the social network, which has twice pinned messages from Donald Trump, told AFP.

Since the start of the protests against police violence and racism, the president, campaigning for his re-election, insists on the violence committed on the margins of the rallies and hammers a speech of firmness, showing his taste for "law and order" .

Tuesday morning, he reacted to the attempt, the day before, of some demonstrators to set up a camp near the presidency on the model of the zone "without police" created in Seattle two weeks ago.

Activists had notably tagged "BHAZ" for "Black House Autonomous Zone" on St. John's Episcopal Church. But the police quickly dispersed the small group.

- "Anarchists" -

In a separate action, protesters attempted to bring down a statue in front of the White House of former President Andrew Jackson, who supported slavery.

Again, the police intervened. "They did a good job, lots of people are in jail today," Donald Trump told reporters before flying off to visit the southern border in Arizona.

The president said he would soon sign a decree on the protection of American monuments.

The death of George Floyd, an African-American asphyxiated by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 28, encouraged a critical rereading of the United States' past and several statues, including of Confederate generals, were demolished on the sidelines of the protests.

- "Weak" -

On the other side of the country, the Seattle authorities wish to reinvest the "autonomous zone", after shootings by firearms which left one dead and one wounded in this area where the police are not welcome.

"It is time for people to go home," said Mayor Jenny Durkan, in order to "restore order and eliminate violence in the Capitol Hill neighborhood."

The authorities have opted for dialogue with the organizers and are not planning to take the premises by force, she said.

Donald Trump sharply criticized the mayor of Seattle and the governor of the state of Washington, Jay Inslee, for their management of this area. "Interior terrorists have taken Seattle, ruled by radical left democrats," he tweeted 12 days ago.

They "are very weak," he said on Tuesday.

© 2020 AFP