President Donald Trump has largely refused to acknowledge the substance of demands from protesters who have turned out across the United States against police brutality in recent days. Instead, he’s called for more brutality against demonstrators, having threatened to send the military out into the streets of the United States at-large. In sharp contrast, leaders like House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) have stood with the protesters, both figuratively and literally. On Monday, he shared an image of a protest that he participated in where participants knelt together and demanded justice for those who’ve been violently attacked by police.
In Los Angeles and around the nation, Americans are demanding justice for George Floyd. An end to police brutality. And an end to systemic racism.
I stand with them.
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) June 1, 2020
Alongside an image of the scene, Schiff shared:
‘Those marching for justice represent the best of America: Protesting peacefully. Speaking truth to power. We knelt together for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. The time George Floyd spent struggling to breathe in his last moments. An unconscionable eternity. Black Lives Matter.’
Those marching for justice represent the best of America:
Protesting peacefully. Speaking truth to power.
We knelt together for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. The time George Floyd spent struggling to breathe in his last moments. An unconscionable eternity.
Black Lives Matter. pic.twitter.com/KpghGILGLT
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 8, 2020
The majority of protests across the United States have been peaceful, and in many of the instances in which protests have become less peaceful, it’s been cops who have been caught on camera instigating the tumult. Peaceful protesters have been tear-gassed and attacked with other weapons in cities around the country. Nevertheless, Trump has consistently refused to acknowledge the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the huge movement of protests. Instead, he has opted to complain on Twitter about “thugs” — and the racist undertones of that terminology aren’t exactly a secret when the president uses the word for a movement supporting black Americans.
As @JoeBiden says, Trump hasn’t met with a single protester.
He promotes the falsehood they’re “terrorists” or “thugs."
He wouldn’t engage people gathered near St. John’s Church, but tear gassed them for a photo op.
That’s not leadership.
Just ignorance and cowardice.
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) June 5, 2020
In stark contrast, Schiff is not the only politician who has joined one of the protests. Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney joined a protest march of conservatives who had gathered in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. In a Twitter post that he made about his involvement, he proclaimed that “Black Lives Matter” — and it’s stunning that the rest of the Republican Senators are so set in their unwavering ideology that many of them won’t even support the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
Black Lives Matter. pic.twitter.com/JpXUFlxH2J
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) June 7, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response to Schiff below:
