Over and over again, Trump’s advisors, the news media, and American citizens have tried to explain that Trump’s words matter. Yes, they get screams and cheers from his rabid fanbase who are frothing at the mouth to see brown foreigners shot dead, but they have even more negative consequences, as well.
https://twitter.com/HQNigerianArmy/status/1058264565190774786
The Nigerian Army, hearing Trump’s promises that the military could shoot any member of the migrant group headed to the U.S. border in search of asylum, is now using those words to justify killing their own unarmed citizens should they try to defend themselves with rocks.
On Thursday night, Trump said that he was sending up to 15,000 troops to the southern border to stop this band of starving, frightened people determined to get their children and families to safety. After a clash with the Mexican police in which a few of the migrants threw rocks to protect themselves, killing absolutely no one but losing one of their own during the melee, Trump said he would condone the U.S. military shooting at unarmed civilians. This is a war crime.
‘They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. I told them to consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like what they did to the Mexican military and police I say consider it a rifle.’
The Nigerian Army, facing off against civilian protesters at home, then posted a video of Trump’s words to Twitter, using it as a way to justify shooting those civilians. This is the new example that the United States is setting for the world: shoot first, worry about human rights and safety never.
Nigerians responded to the tweet in horror. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
