Sen. Ted Cruz ripped those who looted businesses and destroyed property in cities across the United States in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
The Texas Republican said Tuesday that people are “united” in their desire to see justice for Floyd but that the destruction of businesses and the general mayhem caused by violent members of the organization antifa must be addressed.
“You’re seeing antifa protesters deciding to abuse and take advantage of this crisis to wrongly paint the peaceful protesters as violent,” Cruz said. “Every time you see some young antifa terrorist showing up to scrawl graffiti, attacking police officers on the side of a police car, or shattering windows, they are behaving like bigots.”
What happened to #GeorgeFloyd was horrific. It was police brutality.
We’re united in believing the officers involved should face criminal prosecution.
Yet we see antifa terrorists deciding to take advantage of this crisis to wrongly paint peaceful protestors as being violent. pic.twitter.com/4mFeQu7bFx
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 2, 2020
Cruz said destruction at the hands of antifa was “profoundly racist” after black business owners throughout the country have lost their livelihoods at the hands of rioters.
“These antifa protesters that are organizing these acts of terror, among other things, they are behaving in a profoundly racist manner,” he added. “Everyone agrees what happened to George Floyd was horrific, it was police brutality, and we are united in rightly believing that the officers involved should face criminal prosecution.”
The former presidential candidate called for unity amid a week of sustained protesting across the country.
“We ought to stand united and strong in protecting the safety of American citizens, protecting the safety of police officers, protecting the safety of Americans of every race, African Americans, Hispanic, white, across the board, we need to be protecting our homes, we need to be protecting our families, and we need to be protecting our small businesses.”
