Trump's "When The Looting Starts, The Shooting Starts" Tweet

Overview

Trump's "When The Looting Starts, The Shooting Starts" Tweet refers to a tweet made in response to the Minneapolis riots by President Donald Trump in late May 2020. The tweet, which denounced the Mayor of Minneapolis, labeled those involved in the riots "thugs," and stated, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," caused Twitter to hide the tweet for violating Twitter rules and "glorifying violence." The tweet and Twitter's action of flagging the tweet caused "Thugs," "Glorifying Violence," and "#DonaldIsOverParty" to trend on Twitter.

Background

On May 29th, 2020, Donald Trump^[1] tweeted, "I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right….." which gained over 215,600 likes and 74,000 retweets in a day. He followed up the tweet by saying, "….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!" which was flagged by Twitter in a notice that stated "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible" (shown below).

Developments

On May 29th, 2020, Twitter user @MichaelCoudrey^[2] accused Twitter of censoring the president in a tweet saying, "WOW: Twitter has just censored the transmission of a public message from the Commander-in-Chief regarding the emergency situation in Minnesota and the National Guard, claiming it was 'Glorifying Violence'. This is outrageous" (shown below, left). The tweet garnered over 1,000 likes in a day. Twitter user @adhan_BEcivil^[3] posted screenshots of two separate Trump tweets which give protestors separate labels and added the caption, "Thugs of A M E R I C A !! Time to start "Civil Rights Movement 2.0" #donaldisoverparty" (shown below). The tweet received over 2,500 likes and 300 retweets in a day.

That same morning, #DonaldIsOverParty, Thugs, and glorifying Violence began trending on Twitter.^[5][6][7] CNN reporter and Twitter user @Kevinliptakcnn^[4] tweeted a screenshot of an archived passage from the NY Times and said "Apparent origin of the "looting starts, shooting starts" is Miami police chief in 1967, who said 'we don't mind being accused of police brutality'" (shown below). The tweet accumulated over 830 likes and 640 retweets in a day. The New York Times^[8] and CNN^[9] published articles on the tweet.

That same day, Twitter user @ByLizSawyer tweeted a video of Mayor Frey responding to the tweet during a press conference (shown below). The tweet received over 2,700 likes and 1,500 retweets that day.
Mayor Frey responds to President Trump’s tweeted bashing his leadership and advocating the shooting of looters.

Various Examples

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