Trump declares himself the "law and order president"

 

 

Washington's Catholic archbishop has strongly criticised President Donald Trump's visit to a shrine as civil unrest continues in the US over the death of a black man in police custody.

The visit "misused" and "manipulated" the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, Archbishop Wilton D Gregory said.

He said he found the president's action "baffling and reprehensible".

Filmmaker Spike Lee told the BBC anger over George Floyd's death and systemic injustice are fuelling protests.

On Monday Mr Trump threatened to send in the military to quell disturbances, vowing to "dominate the streets", as protests sparked by the killing of Mr Floyd, 46, in Minneapolis continued. 

The president said he would deploy the army if cities and states failed to control the protests. But on Tuesday at least one mayor rejected the use of National Guard and military forces.

Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden criticised Mr Trump for using the crisis to appeal to his supporters, saying he was "serving the passions of his base".

On Tuesday the Las Vegas sheriff said an officer died in a shooting after police attempted to disperse a crowd, and four officers were injured on Monday in St Louis, Missouri.

What have religious leaders said?

In a statement ahead of the president's visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine on Tuesday, Archbishop Wilton D Gregory said it violated the church's religious principles, adding that Catholics should defend the rights of all people.

The archbishop also condemned the forceful clearing of protesters outside the White House on Monday to allow Mr Trump to visit a church where he held a Bible in front of gathered media.

Saint John Paul "would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate [protestors] for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship," he commented.

Archbishop Gregory is the first African-American to lead the diocese. The shrine is run by the Knights of Columbus, an all-male Catholic organisation that has lobbied for conservative political causes.

Washington's Episcopalian bishop, Mariann Budde, also condemned the president's actions. In the UK the archbishops of York and Canterbury said the unrest exposed "the ongoing evil of white supremacy".

Politics and religion

US President Donald Trump's signalling of religious affiliation has not been welcomed by a range of clerics as the nation struggles to manage the twin challenges of a pandemic and widespread political protest.

President Trump does not belong to a particular congregation, only occasionally attends a service and has said many times that he does not like to ask God for forgiveness.

But while he may not consider church essential to his personal life, it may yet hold the keys to his political future.

In 2016, Mr Trump won 81% of white evangelical votes and exit polls found that white Catholics supported him over Hillary Clinton by 60% to 37%.

What's the latest in the protests?

• After New York's iconic department store Macy's and other shops were looted, Governor Andrew Cuomo criticised the police for "not doing their jobs"
• Curfews in the city are extended to Sunday, as well as in Philadelphia until Thursday
• In Chicago, two people were reported killed amid unrest, although the circumstances are unclear
• Meanwhile, the state of Minnesota filed a civil rights charge against the Minneapolis Police Department over Mr Floyd's death
• And the controversial order to clear protesters from a park near the White House on Monday evening came directly from Attorney General William Barr, US media reported
• The chief of police in Louisville, Kentucky was sacked after law enforcement officers fired into a crowd on Sunday night, killing the owner of a nearby business
• Music channels and celebrities marked Blackout Tuesday, pausing for eight minutes - the length of time a police officer knelt on Mr Floyd's neck

How did protests begin?

The protests began after a video showed Mr Floyd being arrested and a white police officer continuing to kneel on his neck even after he pleaded that he could not breathe, on 25 May.

The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with third-degree murder and will appear in court next week. Three other police officers have been fired.

On Monday Mr Trump called on cities and states to deploy the National Guard, the reserve military force that can be called on to intervene in domestic emergencies.

He said if a city did not "take the actions that [were] necessary" he would deploy the military and "quickly solve the problem for them."

In order to take that step, the president would have to invoke the Insurrection Act, which in some circumstances first requires a request from state governors for him to do so.

This law was last invoked in 1992 during riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers charged with assaulting black motorist Rodney King.

What's the bigger picture?

The Floyd case has reignited deep-seated anger over police killings of black Americans and racism. It follows the high-profile cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Eric Garner in New York; and others that have driven the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years.

Garner was placed in a police chokehold in New York in 2014 and could be heard crying out "I can't breathe" as officers restrained him. His words, which were also shouted by Mr Floyd in his final moments, have become a rallying cry for Black Lives Matter protesters.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets - not only to express their outrage at the treatment of Mr Floyd - but to condemn police brutality against black Americans more widely.

African-Americans are more likely to get fatally shot by police than other ethnic groups. They are also arrested for drug abuse at a much higher rate than white Americans, although surveys show drug use is at similar levels.

For many, the outrage over Mr Floyd's death also reflects years of frustration over socio-economic inequality and discrimination, not least in Minneapolis itself. It has also come amid the coronavirus pandemic, which studies show has disproportionately affected black Americans both in terms of deaths and job losses.

But the protests also echo those of the Civil Rights movement more than 50 years ago. This action was led by Martin Luther King Jr and sought to challenge white supremacy and the segregationist policies that were commonplace at the time.

The ongoing unrest is the most widespread racial turbulence the US has experienced since Dr King, known to most Americans as MLK, was gunned down by a sniper in 1968. BBC