Washington, Sep 19 (UNI) US President Donald Trump has said that violent demonstrators, after the death of
African-American George Floyd, did not even spare Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Washington DC and called
the protesters a 'bunch of thugs'.
Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25, after a police officer pinned him to the ground and knelt on his neck
for more than eight minutes, while he (Floyd) gasped for breath. The footage, which went viral, sparked
nationwide violent protests with some agitators resorting to vandalism, looting and rioting across the country.
'You know, they started ripping down Abraham Lincoln. When they hit Lincoln, I said wait a minute. This is
the man and you can do - then they hit George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. They had everybody,' Trump
said at an election rally in Minnesota on Thursday.
He also mentioned about the statue of Gandhi in Washington DC that was vandalised by unknown miscreants
at the peak of nationwide protests.
'They even had Gandhi. All that Gandhi wanted was one thing, peace. Right? We have peace. Rip down his statue. We don't like him. I don't think they have any idea what they're doing. I think they're just a bunch of thugs, okay, you want to know the truth. I think they're a bunch of thugs,' he said.
The vandalised statue was restored later by the Indian Embassy, with the help of Police and the State
Department.
'Because you know why? They look and they say I want to take on that statue. I'm going to take down that
statue. That statue's coming down. And then somebody says, you know, it's 10 years in jail. They go that's too
much. I'm getting out of here. It's true,' he said, amid laughter.
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