President Donald Trump has continued his scorched-earth rhetoric in response to the ongoing protests across the U.S. calling for widespread police reform. In a tweet sent Thursday, the president focused on the city of Seattle, Washington, which he claimed was under siege by “ugly anarchists.”
In addition to categorizing the protesters as anarchists, Trump also lobbed attacks as Washington Governor Jay Inslee, as well as Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. The president called them part of the “radical left” and were being “played at a level that our great country has never seen.” He then demanded that they “take back” the city of Seattle, claiming that if they refuse to do so, he will act. He also added that “this is not a game.”
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Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2020
As The Hill noted, both Inslee and Durkan replied to Trump’s tweet, with the mayor addressing him directly tweeting, “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker.” It was also a thinly-veiled attack in it sown right, referencing to the president’s time in an underground bunker on May 29 as protests in Washington D.C. grew closer to the White House. Inslee also tweeted that “Every time Trump tweets, I’m more energized than ever to vote him out this November.”
While there has been some unrest in Seattle, including when demonstrators briefly took over City Hall while calling for the resignation of Durkan in addition to police reform. Since then, an “Autonomous Zone” in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood was established after police left the area. The barricaded off area allows the protestors free reign of the area and has been largely incident-free.
Earlier in June, there were numerous reports of protesters clashing with police. In one case, an officer held his knee against the neck of a demonstrator before another cop had to pull him off. The act gained widespread attention, given to its parallels with the death of George Floyd, who was killed by police in a similar manner on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Police also claimed that some threw “improvised explosives” at them, though their accompanying tweet showed a photo of a candle, which cast some doubt online.
