During the major anti-racism demonstrations that shook the United States in 2020, Donald Trump would have raised the possibility of “shooting in the legs” of the demonstrators, according to his former Minister of Defense, Mark Esper.
The latter reveals this information in a book to be published soon, certain extracts of which were disclosed on Monday by the media Axios. He claims that on the sidelines of a June 2020 demonstration in support of George Floyd, an African-American killed by police, an angry Donald Trump reportedly said in the Oval Office: “Can’t you just shoot them? Shoot them in the legs or something.”
“The good news: it was not a difficult decision” not to follow the idea launched by the Republican president, said Mark Esper. “The bad: I had to get Trump to back down without creating the mess I was trying to avoid.”
The former head of the Pentagon describes the situation as “surreal” in his memoirs to be published on May 10 in the United States, entitled “A Sacred Oath” (“A sacred oath”, in French).
These statements join those of former relatives of Donald Trump. In a book published in August 2021, journalist Michael Bender had already reported that the billionaire had repeatedly exclaimed: “Shoot them”, on the sidelines of these same gatherings.
US Army Chief of Staff Mike Milley told the reporter that Donald Trump had advised some military and law enforcement officials to “smash the skulls” of participants in the Black Movement protests. Lives Matter.