Trump accuses local officials of inciting ‘insurrection’published at 19:21 GMT
19:21 GMT
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House
Image source, Reuters
We’ve just heard from President Donald Trump, who accuses the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of Minnesota of fomenting an “insurrection”.
In a social media post, Trump shared an image of the pistol that federal officials say the suspect had.
“Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do!,” he writes.
Without citing evidence, Trump accuses local officials of a “cover up” to hide theft and fraud.
He adds: “The mayor and governor are inciting insurection, with their pompous, dangerous and arrogant rhetoric… LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to quell unrest over federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.
There are no public events on Trump’s schedule today, but he is due to hold a closed-door screening of a documentary about his wife Melania this evening.