Schumer: ‘Troops Dressed For Combat’ Reminiscent Of Tiananmen Square

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 03: Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) listens during a news conference following the weekly Democratic caucus luncheon where U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Health a... WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 03: Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) listens during a news conference following the weekly Democratic caucus luncheon where U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and members of the coronavirus task force briefed senators on March 3, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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The scene of “troops dressed for combat” at the Lincoln Memorial — the famed point of departure for the civil rights movement that saw the March on Washington — mimicked images of Tiananmen Square, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

“What is President Trump doing to this grand democracy?” Schumer asked.

Dozens of National Guard troops deployed by President Trump were stationed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday night in a fresh attempt at brandishing military force to squash anti-racism protests that entered a fifth night in Washington, D.C.

President Trump’s harsh tactics to silence demonstrators have continued unabated —first deploying 1,200 members of the National Guard to patrol D.C. streets and later dispensing chemical spray and shooting rubber bullets at protesters, while sending low-flying helicopters overhead in other parts of the city. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to “dominate” protests that have erupted on streets across America.

Tiananmen Square was occupied in 1989 by student-led demonstrations in Beijing that were driven away when the military driving tanks fired bullets killing an unnamed number demonstrators.

Schumer’s remarks come after the failure of a resolution proposed by Senate Democrats condemning the violent dispersal of protesters in Lafayette Park on Monday. In an MSNBC interview on Tuesday night, Schumer also accused the President of taking advantage of division fo personal gain, seeming to “take delight in ripping us apart further.” 

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