President Donald Trump was "very upset" by the tape of Minneapolis resident George Floyd's death after he was pinned to the ground by the neck by a city police officer, and he ordered an expedited review by the FBI as a result, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday.
"This man deserves justice, as the president noted yesterday in his tweet," McEnany told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "He directed the FBI to get to the bottom of this because we should never, ever have to watch a tape like that again. It was appalling."
The Justice Department said Thursday it's made the federal investigation of Floyd's death a top priority.
Floyd, a black man, was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who would not release Floyd even as he was saying he could not breathe. Minneapolis Wednesday night was slammed with violent protests, looting, and fires after Chauvin and three other police officers were fired, but not arrested.
"Everyone has a right to protest, no doubt about that," McEnany said, "but it needs to be peaceful, without looting. I know there was a man who lost his life last night, and our hearts go out to his family. You have the right to protest absolutely but let's are let's work peacefully and in accordance with the law."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has demanded Chauvin be arrested, and for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to "act on the evidence before him."
"I've wrestled with, more than anything else over the last 36 hours, one fundamental question: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail?" Frey said in a news conference. "If you had done it, or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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