Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Twitter Changes Color in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter


Mon 01 Jun 2020 | 01:07 PM
H-Tayea

Twitter Inc. changed its profile pictures to express solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement as protests raged across the United States over the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died after a policeman restrained him with a knee on the neck.

The protests erupted in several cities of the US against the death of black man George Floyd in Minneapolis with the protesters demanding that action be taken against the police officers responsible for the murder of Floyd.

The main Twitter account also retweeted a thread from Twitter Together, an account that promotes persity, saying, “Racism does not adhere to social distancing.”

It further stated, “Amid the already growing fear and uncertainty around the pandemic, this week has again brought attention to something perhaps more pervasive: the long-standing racism and injustices faced by Black and Brown people on a daily basis.”

Trump Vs Twitter

Twitter and President Donald Trump are on a collision course after the leader tweeted about Floyd and the Minnesota riots. Trump threatened to send the National Guard and accused the protestors of being “THUGS” who were “dishonoring the memory of George Floyd," adding that he "won’t let that happen.” He raged, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

In a new blow to the tweets of US President Donald Trump, Twitter, on Friday, hid one of the president’s tweets saying it represents  “glorifying violence”, amid escalating confrontation between Trump and Twitter about “freedom of expression.”

The US President was commenting on the riots in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as protests escalated after the death of black American citizen George Floyd, who appeared in a video struggling to catch his breath while a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck.

Trump warned, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” President Donald Trump tweeted.

Twitter has posted a warning and hid Trump’s tweet that can no longer be liked or replied to. but can be accessed by clicking on the “view”.

Twitter said that this tweet violates Twitter’s rules on glorifying violence.

From Seattle to New York, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding tougher murder charges and more arrests over the death of Floyd, who stopped breathing after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

In Los Angeles, officers fired rubber bullets and swung batons during a testy standoff with demonstrators who set fire to a police car.

Police and protesters clashed in numerous cities including Chicago and New York, with officers responding to projectiles with pepper spray while shop windows were smashed in Philadelphia.

In Los Angeles, the city’s mayor expanded a curfew order as looting broke out. Stretched emergency services scrambled to put out the two blazes on Melrose Avenue, as similar scenes played out in Washington with officials extinguishing a major fire at a hotel off Layfayette Square.

Protests are expected to continue even after Chauvin, the now-fired Minneapolis police officer accused of Floyd’s death, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder on Friday.

Floyd’s family and many protestors want a tougher charge brought and have also demanded that three officers who assisted him be charged as well.