President Trump criticized Ali Velishi who injured during George Floyd demonstrations

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US President Donald Trump has mentioned the moment as a beautiful sight when police shot an MSNBC reporter with rubber bullets during protests in May 2020. On Saturday, he said at a campaign rally in Minnesota that police actions towards Ali Velishi were also an example of law and order. President also admired the deployment of the National Guard to stop protests this summer. His apparent admiration for police violence came 4 months on from protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in the largest city of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Point to be noted that Velishi had been struck with a rubber bullet by Minneapolis law enforcement on 30 May 2020.

Velishi was trying to report on protests sparked by the death of Floyd just 5 days earlier. President described the moment MSNBC’s reporter was hit, whilst incorrectly saying Velishi was struck with a tear-gas canister. President Trump informed the crowd and said, “He went down. He was down. And Nobody cared. These guys law enforcement didn’t care. They moved him aside. It was the most beautiful thing”. He added, ”Wasn’t it really a beautiful sight? It’s called law and order”. The MSNBC reporter responded on Twitter and asked the president, “What law did I break while covering an entirely peaceful (yes, entirely peaceful) March?”

Point to be noted that the MSNBC network issued a statement just after Saturday’s rally and said, “Freedom of the press is a pillar of our democracy”. The statement added, “When the president mocks a journalist for the injury he sustained while putting himself in harm’s way to inform the public, he endangers thousands of other journalists and undermines our freedoms”. It is noteworthy that the injury of Velishi was among multiple media personnel and reporters who were attacked and mistreated by law enforcement whilst covering this summer’s anti-racism demonstrations.