Republicans on Sunday condemned Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) for urging protesters in Minnesota to “get more confrontational” if former police officer Derek Chauvin does not get convicted of murdering George Floyd.
Waters swooped into Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on Saturday night to appear at a rally during protests over the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
Asked about the Chauvin murder trial, Waters told rally attendees and reporters that if Chauvin isn’t found guilty, “We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”
While she said she remains “hopeful” Chauvin will be convicted, if he isn’t, “we cannot go away.”
Republicans ripped Waters for her incendiary rhetoric.
“Telling rioters who have burned buildings, looted stores, and assaulted journalists to get ‘more confrontational’ is incredibly irresponsible. Every House Democrat should condemn Maxine Waters’ call for violence,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg told Fox News.
“Why is Maxine Waters traveling to a different state trying to incite a riot? What good can come from this?” Rep. Lauren Boebert (RCO) wrote on Twitter.
Why is Maxine Waters traveling to a different state trying to incite a riot? What good can come from this? https://t.co/nXzV0trmN3
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) April 18, 2021
“The Radical Left don’t care if your towns are burning, if there’s violence in your streets, or if the police are too defunded to defend their communities. As long as the Left appeases their anti-America base, their job is done,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) wrote on Twitter.
The Radical Left don’t care if your towns are burning, if there’s violence in your streets, or if the police are too defunded to defend their communities.
As long as the Left appeases their anti-America base, their job is done.https://t.co/bmBJEsrCdn
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) April 18, 2021
“Why is a sitting member of Congress encouraging protesters to get ‘confrontational?'” Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) wrote on Twitter.
Waters plans to stay in Minnesota until Monday, when closing arguments are expected in the Chauvin trial, New York Times reporter Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reported.
“The way to get in control is not to allow them to win,” Waters said of political opponents, according to FOX 9 in Minneapolis. “You’ve got to register and you’ve got to vote and you’ve got to take the power.”
She later told MSNBC that she was in Minnesota to be “auntie Maxine.”
“We have to give support to our young people who are struggling and trying to make this justice system work for everybody. They see their peers being killed. Minneapolis is a great example of what’s wrong with the criminal justice system, what’s wrong with policing,” she told MSNBC on Sunday. “I wanted to be there as auntie Maxine to show them, not only do I love them and support them, but they can count on me to be with them at this terrible time in all of our lives.”
In 2018, Waters called on her supporters to “create a crowd” and to “push back” on members of the Trump administration — especially in public.
“Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” Waters said. “And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”