Republican National Convention 2020: Day 4

Ann Dorn, the widow of a retired police officer who was killed during violence in St. Louis, on Thursday condemned violent protests.

“Violence and destruction are not legitimate forms of protest. They do not safeguard Black lives; they only destroy them,” Dorn said in filmed remarks for the Republican National Convention.

Dorn’s 77-year-old husband, David Dorn, was killed when he responded to an alarm at the pawnshop during the early morning hours of June 2, the St. Louis Police Department said. The retired officer was providing security for the store. About 55 businesses in the city were burglarized and had property damage that night, city Police Chief John Hayden told reporters at the time. 

The looting and destruction followed protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, the Black man who was killed after a White police officer kneeled on his neck.

Dorn’s comments come as protests rage in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Blake, a Black man, was shot in the back by police on Sunday as he tried to enter his vehicle. He survived the shooting but his father said Blake is paralyzed from the waist down, although he is unsure if the paralysis is permanent.

Fighting back tears, Dorn recounted the moment she was told her husband had been killed.

“I relive that horror in my mind every single day,” Dorn said. “My hope is that having you relive it with me now will help shake this country from this nightmare we are witnessing in our cities and bring about positive, peaceful change.”

She praised President Donald Trump and said Trump has “offered federal help to restore order in our communities.”

“In a time when police departments are short on resources and man power, we need that help. We should accept that help. We must heal before we can effect change, but we cannot heal amid devastation and chaos,” Dorn said. 

“President Trump knows we need more Davids in our communities not fewer. We need to come together in peace and remember that every life is precious," she said.

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Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and one of President Trump’s lawyers, derided the state of Democrat-run cities across the US, pleading to voters, “Don’t let Democrats do to America what they did to New York.” 

“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,” Giuliani, who embraced tough-on-crime policing practices as mayor, said at the Republican convention. 

Giuliani’s remarks fit into a larger theme of the convention, with several speakers arguing that anti-police brutality demonstrations that escalated to violence are the fault of Democrats. 

Giuliani called Joe Biden “a Trojan Horse with Bernie (Sanders), (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), (Nancy) Pelosi, Black Lives Matter and his party’s entire Left Wing just waiting to execute their pro-criminal, anti-police, socialist policies.” 

“These continuous riots in Democrat cities gives you a good view of the future under Biden,” he warned, later adding, “It is clear that a vote for Biden and the Democrats creates the risk that you will bring this lawlessness to your city, to your town, to your suburb.” 

Giuliani said protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police were created out of a “truly just cause,” but that Democrats got in the way. 

“They had a President to beat and a country to destroy, and although an agreement on action against police brutality would be very valuable for the country, it would also make President Trump appear to be an effective leader. They could have none of that,” he said. “So, Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA sprang into action and in a flash, they hijacked the protests into vicious, brutal riots.” 

“For President Trump, and for us Republicans, all Black Lives Matter and the lives of (LeGend), Brandon and Davell matter to us,” Giuliani added, referencing the names of children who were the victims of violent crime.

“There is no question that this awesome job of restoring safety at this time, cannot be done effectively from your basement, Joe,” Giuliani continued. “There is also no question that President Trump will fight with all his strength to preserve the American system of government and our way of life.”

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Until this year, convention speeches were delivered inside sealed arenas. If protests occurred, they were out of sight and well out of mind.

President Trump’s outdoor speech Thursday from the White House South Lawn doesn’t provide those advantages, though a fortified security perimeter around the executive mansion will likely provide a wide buffer between him and expected protesters.

If they are seen or heard, they could help Trump illustrate a hardline “law and order” message that he’s been pressing in the wake of protests in Wisconsin earlier this week.

At least two groups have said they will convene near the White House during Trump’s speech. One has said they hope to “drown out” the President using loudspeakers and trucks.

Sound from protests has previously carried over the White House fence to where the President is speaking, including when a group of truckers blared their horns during a Rose Garden event.

More notably, the sound of flash bangs could be heard from the Rose Garden as Trump spoke ahead of his fateful walk across Lafayette Square to St. John’s Church in June.

Ahead of Trump’s speech on Thursday, temporary fencing was erected around the perimeter of the White House grounds, almost entirely encasing the property. It mimicked the barricades that were positioned around the White House during that week in June, when Trump at one point was rushed to an underground bunker.

Protests organized by anti-Trump protesters are now audible from the South Lawn of the White House.

Reporters on the South Lawn, where President Trump will deliver his acceptance speech at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention, say they can hear banging, air horns, and muffled chanting, and say it sounds like protesters are southeast of the South Lawn, either along 15th Street NW or the Ellipse.

DC's GoGo musicians say they are deploying their GoGo truck, which will have musicians and loudspeakers aboard, and organizers say their goal is to "drown out Trump." 

The media area on the South Lawn is behind where Trump's guests are seated, so it’s unclear how audible the protests will be closer to the stage by the south portico entrance to the White House. 

CNN's Jeremy Moorhead captured protests taking place on 15th street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, near the White House:

Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, discussed the support President Trump has lent to law enforcement in the US.

Some context: Lynch's comments come following renewed criticism of law enforcement in the US after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and large protests erupted, authorities are revealing more information about the shooti

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Four years ago, as then-candidate Donald Trump was accepting the Republican nomination from his convention in Cleveland, he emerged in dramatic silhouette and began his address with a grim assessment of the nation: 

“Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.

Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims.

I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be restored.” 

Those words opened what was then considered an unusually dark and foreboding address — but which now closely resembles the types of speeches Trump delivers routinely as he continues to decry violence in American.

He has similarly accused Joe Biden of ignoring the chaos — including in a tweet hours before he was scheduled to deliver another convention acceptance speech.

“Democrats and Biden didn’t even mention the Anarchists, Agitators, Looters and so called ‘Peaceful Protesters’ at their Convention,” he wrote. “They will allow rampant crime, just as they do in Portland. If they ask us, as they must do, we will end crime in their Democrat run cities, FAST!”

Amid protests this summer over police violence and systemic racism, Trump has returned to almost the exact same rhetoric he offered four years ago. Only now, he is the President presiding over the self-described chaos.

In his speech four years ago, Trump accused then-President Barack Obama of helping foment the unrest.

“In this race for the White House, I am the Law And Order candidate. The irresponsible rhetoric of our President, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment for everyone,” he said.

Now, however, Trump is the President accused of the same thing, and is accepting the nomination amid a national reckoning on race that has prompted boycotts in professional sports and a new round of unrest.

In his speech on the final night of the Republican National Convention, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced his explicit opposition to making Washington, DC, a state because Democrats would gain two more senators.

"Today’s Democrat Party doesn’t want to improve life for middle America. They prefer that all of us in flyover country keep quiet and let them decide how we should live our lives,” he claimed.

Positioning himself as the advocate for middle America, he reemphasized the importance of electing Republican candidates to the Senate in the 2020 election.

McConnell claimed that Democrats want to defund the police, take away second amendment rights, give free health care to undocumented immigrants and put liberal justices in the Supreme Court.

By making Washington, DC, a state, he said, Democrats would "codify" these policies, making it harder for Republicans to stand in opposition.

“Which is why I'm asking you to support Republican senate candidates across the country and re-elect my friend president Donald Trump," he said in closing.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson shared words of solace for the family of Jacob Blake and others "who have been impacted by the tragic events in Kenosha," he said tonight during the Republican National Convention.

"In order to succeed and change, we must first come together in love of our fellow citizens. History reminds us that necessary change comes through hope and love, not senseless and destructive violence," he continued.

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UFC President Dana White backed President Trump's leadership in his Republican National Convention speech, saying he has "unstoppable energy" and is "one of most loyal human beings."

"I spoke at this convention four years ago and I'm back because I believe we need President Trump's leadership now more than ever," he said.

He also railed against any effort to defund police departments, saying that "is not the answer."

"The first responders have always taken care of us, and now more than ever we need to take care of them," he said.

White praised Trump for facing Covid-19 head-on, and said he "personally observed his ability to listen and understand the issues impacting Americans of all backgrounds."

"It was clear his highest priority was always the health and safety of everyone in our country. Not just Republicans. Not just supporters. But every single American," he said.

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