In a video that went viral, Houston police chief Art Acevedo advised US President Donald Trump to “keep his mouth shut” if he doesn’t have “anything productive to say”.
In an interview with CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour on Monday, Art Acevedo was asked to respond to a leaked call from Trump to state governors in which he urged them to “dominate” over ongoing protests.
In a clip of an interview that has since been widely shared on social media, the city of Houston’s police chief criticized Trump for his handling of the ongoing protests over the killing of George Floyd and advised him to “keep his mouth shut”.
“Let me just say this to the President of the United States, on behalf of the police chiefs of this country: please, if you don’t have something constructive to say, keep your mouth shut,” Acevedo said.
Acevedo said that it wasn’t about dominance but about winning hearts and minds. He requested the president not to put young people’s lives at risk.
Trump has earlier threatened to deploy the US military if the states fail to contain unruly demonstrations.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American was killed on 25 May after he was pinned at the neck by a Minneapolis white police officer.
Source: US media
