Nigerian army uses Trump rhetoric to justify shooting at rock-throwing activists

[Demovictory9]

FacebookTwitterGoogle +EmailCommentPrintContinue to article content

Nigerian soldiers arrive at the site of clashes during a protest. The army has come under heavy international criticism for its decision on Monday to quash a peaceful protest by Shia Muslims by firing at them. | Sodiq Adelakun/AFP/Getty Images

FOREIGN POLICY

Nigerian army uses Trump rhetoric to justify shooting at rock-throwing activists

By JESUS RODRIGUEZ

 

11/02/2018 02:57 PM EDT

The Nigerian Army on Friday seized on the inflammatory immigration rhetoric of President Donald Trump to justify shooting at about 1,000 protesters in the capital city of Abuja earlier this week.

Trump on Thursday used what was purported to be a policy announcement on the asylum system to lash at Democrats, the slow-moving group of Central American asylum-seekers making its way through Mexico, and the immigration system at large in a move that was largely seen as a campaign speech. The president said that if migrants threw rocks at the U.S. military guarding the border, officers should "consider it a rifle."


https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/02/emboldened-by-trump-rhetoric-nigerian-army-shoots-at-rock-throwing-migrants-958177

[TomSlick]

1. Words matter.

So much for the shining city on a hill.