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Rudy Giuliani rails against Black Lives Matter, Antifa and De Blasio in RNC speech

28 August 2020
Dan Ackermann

President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani took on the "unprecedented wave of lawlessness" that has swept across the U.S. at the RNC Thursday night, accusing the Black Lives Matter movement and Antifa of turning peaceful protests into "vicious, brutal riots."

Why it matters: As mayor of New York City, Giuliani was famous for championing a controversial record of crime-fighting, including policies like stop-and-frisk. He tore into his successor Bill De Blasio for allowing crime to rise in New York, and accused Joe Biden of being a "Trojan horse" for progressives "waiting to execute their pro-criminal, anti-police, socialist policies."

The big picture: As Trump's personal attorney, Giuliani became mired in scandal after seeking to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. He was reported to be under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in New York last year.

What he's saying: "New York City, once described as America’s Crime Capital, had become by the mid-1990s America’s safest large city. Now today my city is in shock. Murders, shootings and violent crime are increasing at percentages unheard of in the past. We are seeing the return of rioting and looting," Giuliani said.

  • "The whole unprecedented wave of lawlessness began with a truly just cause the unforgiveable police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. Peaceful protests began all over the land. ... It seemed for a ‘a few brief shining moments’ like Democrat and Republican leaders would come together with a unified proposal to reduce police misconduct."
  • "This possibility was very dangerous to the Left. They had a President to beat and a country to destroy, and although a bi-partisan coalition agreeing on action against police brutality would be very valuable for the country, it would also make President Trump appear to be an effective leader. So, BLM and ANTIFA sprang into action and in a flash hijacked the protests into vicious, brutal riots."

The bottom line: "If Biden is elected, along with the Democrats who are unwilling to speak out against this anarchy, then the crime wave will intensify and spread from cities and towns to suburbs and beyond," Giuliani argued. "I have no doubt, and I’m sure you don’t, when President Trump is re-elected the damage will stop."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.