As massive protests over the police killing of George Floyd raged outside of the White House, across the nation's capital, and around the United States on Sunday, the external floodlights that typically keep the White House illuminated at night were shut off as President Donald Trump remained out of sight and silent—with the exception of occasional incendiary outbursts on Twitter.
It is not clear why the White House lights were cut, but critics viewed the move as symbolic of the country's lack of leadership during a time of nationwide sorrow, anger, and crisis. Trump has yet to deliver a formal address to the nation on either Floyd's killing or the nationwide uprising it sparked, opting instead to attack demonstrators on Twitter and celebrate the brutal response by law enforcement.
"Mr. Trump spent Sunday out of sight, even as some of his campaign advisers were recommending that he deliver a nationally televised address," the New York Times reported. "The building was even emptier than usual as some White House officials planning to work were told not to come in case of renewed unrest."
The White House went dark, turning off almost all of its external lights, as protesters set fires nearby and thousands again defied curfews to demonstrate against police brutality. Smoke was seen rising near the Washington Monument. https://t.co/pmtsjrQp7l pic.twitter.com/0twHpsWjPk — The New York Times (@nytimes) June 1, 2020 WHITE HOUSE LIGHTS OFF WH WENT DARK pic.twitter.com/plnOX26B2X — CryptøManiac101 (@_Crypto_Maniac_) June 1, 2020
Late Friday, according to the Times, the president was rushed by Secret Service agents to a secure underground bunker as protests erupted outside of the White House.
In a series of tweets Saturday morning, Trump said he "couldn't have felt more safe" and boasted that any demonstrator who came close to breaching the White House fence would "have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen."
Lights that usually illuminate exterior of the WH have been turned off. pic.twitter.com/mHfUEhT4Xd — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 1, 2020 When the country needed leadership Trump turned off the lights and went hiding in his bunker. https://t.co/nsSrWMni6W — Murshed Zaheed (@murshedz) June 1, 2020
Mass demonstrations against Floyd's killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers spread quickly across Washington, D.C. Sunday, leading Mayor Muriel Bowser to activate the National Guard and impose a citywide curfew from 11 pm ET to 6 am ET.
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"I think the president has a responsibility to calm the nation," Bowser said during a press conference Sunday morning. "He can start by not sending divisive tweets that are meant to hearken to the segregationist past of our country."
Thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of the nation's capital Sunday afternoon chanting "Stop killing black people!" and "Justice now!" as they faced off with police officers in riot gear.
It appears that there could be as many as 2,000 peaceful protesters occupying the street near Lafayette Park right now. The vibe is one of immense solidarity and unity. pic.twitter.com/nQKBqKeD6s — Julia Boccagno (@juliaboccagno) May 31, 2020 #NOW: Hundreds are packing into H Street north of the White House for a third consecutive evening of protests over the death of George Floyd. Turnout is high even after yesterday’s clashes. It’s wholly peaceful at the moment, they’ve taken a knee chanting “stop killing us.” pic.twitter.com/2RiHfTfLZi — Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) May 31, 2020 It’s calm but tense here in downtown DC a few blocks east of the White House, where people are facing off against two fronts of city police with gas masks at H and 14th. They’ve gotten word of Bowser’s 11pm curfew by way of an emergency alert. Their reaction: “Fuck your curfew.” pic.twitter.com/r3QSYPiRYJ — Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) June 1, 2020
The protests outside of the White House only continued to escalate as Bowser's curfew approached, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who gathered to demand that the officers responsible for Floyd's killing be held accountable.
Smoke rises amid protests in front of the White House 30 minutes before a city wide curfew in Washington DC pic.twitter.com/NNv0SIeuvV — Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) June 1, 2020
As the White House protests intensified Sunday evening, the Washington Post reported that "Trump and some of his advisers calculated that he should not speak to the nation because he had nothing new to say and had no tangible policy or action to announce yet."
"Evidently not feeling an urgent motivation Sunday to try to bring people together, he stayed silent," the Post added. "Trump let his tweets speak for themselves."
372days on June 1st, 2020 at 11:17 UTC »
Say what you want about the the former presidents over 20 or what ever years - they would not have taken his course of action, they would have done and said something, not tried to stoke the fires on twitter.
littlejohnsnow on June 1st, 2020 at 10:32 UTC »
Weakness in action. When Trump was elected you could tell he was going to be bad, monumentally one of the worst presidents to be elected because of his self serving nepotistic agenda. However, here we find he and his administration have pushed Americans so far into into opposing corners to serve himself and his swamp dwelling friends that the country has sat on knife edge for most of his abysmal excuse of a presidency. So that now, when the things get tough, the knife edge cuts and the country has seemingly sliced itself open at the arteries and is now haemorrhaging lives as a result of Covid-19, and pushed to beyond the brink of reasonable force, to rip the arms of justice from their sockets, Americans bleed. He is worse than monumentally bad, he is forever a murderer of America and Americans.
Yet your MAGA man and his regime hide behind concrete walls and Twitter posts to turn the lights out to demonstrate to all that can see that no body is home, the lights are off, the president has presided, his job is done, his country burns, his people die. Sadly, there is nobody to save you, especially your police force.
Best of luck and stay safe Americans.
GDBlunt on June 1st, 2020 at 10:17 UTC »
The fact that Trump has not addressed the American people from the Oval Office and has opted to throw gas on the fire via his twitter account tells you everything you need to know about him.