Politics – Trump: Black Lives Matter instigator of violence against police

Donald Trump said on Monday he believes the Black Lives Matter movement has been the cause for the recent killings of police officers across the nation and suggested he would direct his future attorney general to investigate the group of civil rights activists. When asked by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly if the group has been “a fuse-lighter in the assassinations of these police officers,” Trump responded, “Certainly, in certain instances they are.” He continued, “They certainly have ignited people and you see that … It’s a very, very serious situation and we just can’t let it happen.” Trump called the group a “threat” and accused the group of calling for the killing of police, apparently in reference to a 2014 video of New York City protestors who chanted about wanting “Dead cops.” The Black Lives Matter movement formally disavowed those protestors. “We are going to have to, perhaps, talk to the attorney general about it or do something,” Trump said. “At a minimum, we’re going to have to be watching because that’s really bad stuff and it’s happened more than once.” Trump’s comments came right as the Republican National Convention was beginning.