Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took aim at President Trump for his response to the George Floyd protests across the country.
Johnson, a retired professional wrestler who became a Hollywood star, criticized Trump’s leadership in an Instagram post on Thursday, though he did not mention the president by name.
“Where are you? Where is our leader at this time, at this time when our country is down on its knees begging, pleading, hurt, angry, frustrated, in pain? Begging and pleading with its arms out, just wanting to be heard,” Johnson began in a minutes-long video.
“We must say the words: Black Lives Matter,” he added in the message to his more than 185 million followers.
During a speech at the White House Rose Garden on Monday, Trump threatened to send military troops into states himself by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807 if governors failed to stop the growing wave of unrest that has occurred over the past week.
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“If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents,” he said, “then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
The last time the act was invoked was in 1991, when violent riots broke out in Los Angeles, California, over the beating of Rodney King by police officers. Prior to that, it was used in 1989 after widespread looting began in the Virgin Islands following Hurricane Hugo.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed in Minnesota police custody last week. Most of the protests that followed have been peaceful, but there have been some offshoots in which looting, vandalism, and clashes with law enforcement have occurred.
Johnson took issue with Trump’s call to use the military, asserting that protesters were “in pain.”
“There is military force that has been deployed on our own people. Looters? Yes. Criminals? Absolutely. But on protesters, who are begging and pleading?” Johnson said with a disapproving look. “On protesters who are in pain? You know, you would be surprised how people in pain would respond when you say to them, ‘I care about you.’ When you say to them, ‘I’m listening to you.'”
In a caption to his video, Johnson wrote: “Maybe one day that galvanizing leader will emerge. Either way, the process to change has already begun.”
