*Former President Donald Trump accused the Black Lives Matter movement of encouraging violence against police officers.
Speaking to Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage during an interview on British television, Trump claimed, per Newsweek that “an anti-police chant heard at a 2015 protest was the original message of Black Lives Matter,” the outlet writes.
“It’s shocking that it started off with ‘pigs in a blanket,’ right? You know that, right? The expression ‘Fry ’em like bacon,'” Trump told Farage.
“That was about our great police. And all of a sudden this becomes mainstream? I don’t really think so.
“And antifa. Very bad,” Trump added. “They had antifa in that rally, they had antifa leading a lot of people on that day on January. And I will say that it’s pretty incredible that nothing happens to them.”
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When Farage asked Trump if he believes BLM is about racial equality, Trump replied “They’re about politics, but I think they’re about a lot of other things.”
He added, “If you go back to their original founding and what they were saying. ‘Kill the police.’ What they’re saying is ‘kill the police’. And that becomes mainstream? Not good.”
Here’s more from Newsweek:
The “fry them like bacon” chant Trump mentioned was sung at a protest march held by a Black Lives Matter group in St Paul, Minnesota, in 2015. CNN reported in July 2020 that the chant was sung by a group that was independent from the national Black Lives Matter organization and has never been an official, national or prominent slogan of the movement.
Trump frequently made reference to the “horrible” chant during his years in the White House, claiming it was the first time he became aware of the Black Lives Matter movement. He also mentioned the “pigs in a blanket” chant during the final presidential debate against Joe Biden in October 2020, while claiming he was the “least racist person in this room.”
Despite Trump’s claims, the global Black Lives Matter movement has never called on supporters and activists to kill police officers.
