As protests intensify, Trump tweets: 'FAKE NEWS!'

(Image credit: Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images)

published 1 June 2020

With protests against police brutality happening in all corners of the U.S., President Trump tweeted two words on Sunday night: "FAKE NEWS!"

He did not elaborate. The tweet was sent as demonstrations continued for a sixth day, triggered by the death last week of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died when a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The incident was recorded, and Floyd is heard saying, "I can't breathe."

Floyd's death comes as the country tries to come to grips with the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 104,000 Americans and cost tens of millions of jobs. The first protest over Floyd's death was in Minneapolis, but the movement quickly spread nationwide. While most demonstrations have been peaceful, fires broke out in Los Angeles and New York on Saturday night as tensions flared between police officers and protesters. Over the weekend, The Washington Post estimates, more than 2,500 people were arrested in two dozen cities.

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Curfews are in place in Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and other major cities, and the National Guard has been activated in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Thousands of protesters gathered at Lafayette Square across from the White House on Sunday night after Trump sent his tweet, and a small building inside the park was set on fire. At that point, a few minutes before D.C.'s 11 p.m. curfew was about to go into effect, riot police moved in to push the protesters out.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.