Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had strong words for prosecuting the police in the incidents in Minneapolis and Louisville, saying “if you see what happened, [they] look pretty darn guilty.”
The GOP leader said violent protests in Minneapolis and Louisville – both in response to deaths of black people at the hands of police officers – “really needs to stop” and “this senseless violence in reaction to this is not helpful.”
McConnell declined to comment Friday on a tweet from President Trump in which the President called protesters in Minneapolis “thugs” and warned “when the looting starts, the shooting starts. The message was flagged by Twitter for “glorifying violence.”
“I generally don’t comment on the President’s tweets,” McConnell told reporters at a press event in Kentucky.
“I can speak for myself,” the senior senator from Kentucky said.
“I think what’s happening in Louisville and Minneapolis really needs to stop. This senseless violence in reaction to this is not helpful. But you can certainly understand the outrage. I mean, you can certainly understand the outrage. But it’s not made better by engaging in random acts of violence,” McConnell said.
McConnell went on to call for justice for George Floyd, who was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis, and Breonna Taylor, who, on March 13, was killed after officers forced their way inside her Louisville home and exchanged shots with her boyfriend, according to a lawsuit filed by her mother.
“These events, which the facts around them are pretty obvious are absolutely horrendous, and you can understand the outrage and reaction to witnessing events like this. They need to be thoroughly investigated. And if prosecution is appropriate and I’m sure sounds looking at both these cases like that would be the case. Justice needs to be done. I’ve always been a supporter of demonstrations, but they need to be peaceful. And this senseless violence in reaction to this is not helpful to anyone and I hope it will stop,” he said.