Twitter put a warning on the tweet for glorifying violence, while the fight for justice continues on the streets of Minneapolis and across the United States

In the wake of a cop murdering George Floyd, the streets of Minneapolis have been flooded by protestors fed up with the country’s inaction in the face of police brutality.

After announcing on Thursday that the FBI and Department of Justice would be investigating Floyd’s death, President Donald Trump has changed his town. In the late hours of Thursday night Trump tweeted out, “these THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

Twitter put a warning on the tweet for glorifying violence, but the tweet is still accessible because it “may be in the public interest” according to Twitter. Trump is currently in a public feud with Twitter and announced an executive order to make it easier to sue social media companies.

The riots continued into Friday morning and the precinct of the cops who killed George Floyd, the 3^rd precinct, was set ablaze. Images of stores and police stations on fire caught the attention of President Trump who has backed Democratic Governor Tim Walz’s activation of the National Guard.

Waiting on Charges

As of Friday morning, no charges have been brought against the four officers involved in the death of George Floyd, despite widely circulated video displaying excessive force and murder.

District Attorney Michael Freeman gave a press conference on Thursday and said the video was “graphic and terrible” before he continued, “there is other evidence that does not support a criminal charge.” Freeman’s office had to put out a statement that said, “evidence not favorable to our case needs to be carefully examined to understand the full picture of what actually happened.”

Local reports also revealed that Floyd and his killer Derek Chauvin worked security at the same night club for 17 years.

But many in Minneapolis and across the country say they have waited long enough. During Senator Amy Klobuchar’s term as chief prosecutor, the woman tipped by many to be Joe Biden’s VP pick refused to bring charges against the cop that killed George Floyd despite multiple complaints.

Similar protests have taken place across the country with police taking similar extreme measures to those in Minneapolis. Protests in Los Angeles, Denver, Columbus, Louisville, New York City, and more ended in police violence.

Police Brutality, Social Media, and Free Speech

Before Trump fired off his call for violence on Twitter, Minneapolis police had already been using excessive force to disperse crowds. Videos of tear gas, flashbangs, snipers, and indiscriminate pepper spray can be found all over social media.

The arrests and police actions have not been limited to protestors and demonstrators. Early Friday morning, CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew were arrested live on air by Minneapolis police. CNN and other commentators were quick to point out that CNN had two reporters on the ground, Jimenez is black and the other reporter is white and was not arrested after speaking with the police.

Jimenez was released from custody, but CNN called the arrest “a clear violation of First Amendment rights.”

President Trump has accused Twitter of restricting free speech after Twitter labeled two of his tweets about mail-in voting with exclamation marks. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg went on television yesterday to say that he thinks social media companies should not fact-check political speech.

With Trump advocating for violence against American citizens and spatting with social media companies, and prominent Democrats entrenched in their own racial controversies, the fight for justice continues on the streets of Minneapolis and across the United States.