People gathered outside of the White House on Thursday night (Aug. 27) to protest Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention speech. Footage of violent clashes between protesters and Washington, D.C. police quickly spread through social media, with one clip showing officers escort Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his wife through the crowd. Protesters chanted, “Say her name” and “Breonna Taylor,” who was killed in March by police in Paul’s home state.
Trump spoke after a series of other speakers at the RNC on Thursday (Aug. 27) and accepted the Republican party’s nomination for his presidential run against Joe Biden. The POTUS mentioned the Coronavirus pandemic, Hurricane Laura and ongoing protests against racial injustice and police brutality, which have intensified this week after cops in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake — and unarmed Black man — seven times in the back.
Kenosha remained under a curfew Thursday night (Aug. 27), as demonstrations continue to erupt throughout the city. St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota were also under curfew, and Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin will reportedly impose a 10 p.m. curfew in the North Carolina city on Friday and Saturday night. Arizona, Alabama and Michigan will also send the National Guard to Kenosha, after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers deployed troops on Monday (Aug. 24).
On Tuesday (Aug. 25), two protesters were fatally shot and one was injured by 17-year-old gunman Kyle Rittenhouse. As reported by REVOLT, Rittenhouse was arrested in Illinois on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 26) and faces multiple charges of homicide, possession of a dangerous weapon as a minor and more. Authorities plan to try him as an adult.
Searches of Rittenhouse’s social media revealed him to be a Trump supporter and advocate of “Blue Lives Matter,” a pro-police movement. However, Trump’s campaign distanced themselves from the gunman in a statement on Wednesday.
“President Trump has repeatedly and consistently condemned all forms of violence and believes we must protect all Americans from chaos and lawlessness,” Tim Murtaugh — Trump’s campaign communications director — wrote. “This individual had nothing to do with our campaign and we fully support our fantastic law enforcement for their swift action in this case.”
See some video from D.C. protests below.