Washington, June 1 (RHC)-- The mayor of U.S. capital city of Washington, DC has blasted President Donald Trump as “afraid/alone” while hiding “behind his fence” and further censured what she referred to as “hundreds of years of institutional racism” in the country, marked most recently by “the murder” of yet another unarmed African American in the state of Minnesota by a white police officer.
“While he hides behind his fence afraid/alone, I stand w/ people peacefully exercising their First Amendment Right after the murder of #GeorgeFloyd & hundreds of years of institutional racism,” wrote Mayor Muriel Bowser in a Twitter response on Saturday to Trump, who had earlier accused her in a derogatory tweet of refusing to allow Washington, DC police department to help the U.S. Secret Service officers against crowds of protesters outside the White House.
“Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool,” Trump wrote in his Twitter post on Saturday. “On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. ‘Not their job.’”
Bowser reacted to Trump’s allegations later in the day in a series of tweets and during a press conference, insisting that DC police officers were "were doing their jobs from the start" and were assisting Secret Service "like we have done literally dozens of times in Lafayette Park."
She further wrote in a series of tweets responding to the U.S. president that she would authorize police to protect all areas of the city, also accusing Trump of attempting to divide the nation. “My police department will always protect DC and all who are in it whether I agree with them (such as those exercising their First Amendment Right) or those I don’t (namely, @realdonaldtrump),” she tweeted.
“I call upon our city and our nation to exercise great restraint even while this President continues to try to divide us. Our power is in peace, in our voices and ultimately at the ballot box in November,” she then underlined.
“There are no vicious dogs & ominous weapons. There is just a scared man. Afraid/alone...,” added the DC mayor referring to Trump’s earlier statements attempting to scare off protester against aggressive behavior.
Trump has said demonstrators would have been "greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons” had they breached the White House fence.
This is while local press reports also confirmed that DC police were indeed on the scene of protest rallies on Friday night, along with other law enforcement agencies, as officers pushed back on demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and pervasive police brutality against African Americans near the White House.
The Secret Service, an elite U.S. police force responsible for protecting the White House and foreign diplomatic posts in Washington DC and elsewhere in the country, also confirmed later on Saturday that DC police officers were present during the Friday protest event.
Footage on social media showed several clashes between protesters and Secret Service officers. Police authorities eventually resorted to the use of pepper spray to disperse crowds gathered in Lafayette Park across from the White House.
