Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mitt Romney marched in a faith-based demonstration in Washington, D.C. on Sunday organized by local pastors to protest the death of George Floyd.
In a tweet by Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, Romney said he’s marching to end “violence and brutality and to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.”
Hundreds walked along closed roads toward the White House in a faith-based march meant to recall the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights marches in Alabama, according to the Post.
President Donald Trump weighed in on video of Romney marching with protesters Monday in a sarcastic Twitter post:
“Tremendous sincerity, what a guy. Hard to believe, with this kind of political talent, his numbers would “tank” so badly in Utah!”
On Saturday, Romney tweeted a photo of his father, George Romney, marching in a civil rights protest in Detroit in the late 1960s.
Black Lives Matter. pic.twitter.com/JpXUFlxH2J
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) June 7, 2020
The Washington event Sunday started with a prayer by the Rev. Vernon Mitchell of Evergreen Baptist Church in Southeast D.C., “God, we trust in you. We are putting our lives in your hands.” Then, guarded by police motorcycles, the group headed for the White House.
The mostly Christian protesters chanting, “Black lives matter!” and sang “This Little Light of Mine.”
Last week, Romney criticized the Trump administration for clearing nonviolent protesters across from the White House just before President Donald Trump walked through it to stand for a publicity photo outside a church that was vandalized.
.@MittRomney officially tweets what he told me in a video interview two hours ago, while marching — that “Black Lives Matter.”
— Hannah Natanson (@hannah_natanson) June 7, 2020
He’s the first GOP senator to join in the George Floyd demonstrations sweeping the nation. pic.twitter.com/Za0Am2WL8ghttps://t.co/5XMDhqjmMW
Romney said the “murder of George Floyd shocked and sickened me” and that he respects those who have protested and demanded the country address racism and brutality.
“From the news clips I have seen, the protesters across from the White House were orderly and nonviolent. They should not have been removed by force and without warning, particularly when the apparent purpose was to stage a photo op,” the senator said in a statement.
Attorney General William Barr ordered that the perimeter near the White House be extended, pushing protesters away from Lafayette Square across from the White House shortly before Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church where he posed holding up a Bible.
