Black Lives Matter network debunks Trump Twitter post

Black Lives Matter Global Network distanced itself Thursday from an unaffiliated activist whose comments sparked ire of President Donald Trump, saying activist was t speaking on behalf of movement.

Trump lashed out on Twitter after Hawk Newsome appeared on Fox News this week to discuss protests sparked by death of George Floyd.

“Black Lives Matter leer states, ‘If U.S. doesn’t give us what we want, n we will burn down this system and replace it’. This is Treason, Sedition, Insurrection!” Trump tweeted.

Newsome me remarks to “ Story” host Martha MacCallum, who asked him about previous statements he’d me on violence seen in some of Floyd protests. activist went on to say that his remarks could be taken “figuratively” or “literally.”

He also said he does t condone violence or rioting in response to death of Floyd, but would t condemn those who do it to express anger over police brutality.

In a statement to Associated Press, BLM Global Network managing director Kailee Scales said Newsome’s comments were t an official statement of network.

“Hawk Newsome has relation to Black Lives Matter Global Network,” Scales said.

Newsome is a former president of Black Lives Matter Greater New York, which is t an affiliate chapter of global network. Although re are many groups that use “Black Lives Matter” or “BLM” in ir names, only 16 are considered affiliates of BLM Global Network.

Scales said only chapters that have agreed to here to network’s principles and code of ethics are permitted to be part of network.

Reached by phone Thursday night, Newsome said Black Lives Matter Greater New York is w under leership of Black women. He also said Black Lives Matter is t a movement over which anyone can claim ownership.

“It pains me that at a time like this, Black people are t sticking toger,” he said. “To say that all people who carry that banner have to be sanctioned is preposterous. ... To alienate us at a time like this, when president is targeting us, is t only counterproductive but it’s counterrevolutionary.”

Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2013 amid anger over acquittal of George Zimmerman, Florida man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012. network of chapters was formed in 2014, following an uprising in Ferguson, Missouri, in response to police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Since death of Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 after a white Minneapolis officer held a knee to his neck, widespre protests have brought about what many consider a national reckoning on police brutality and systemic racism. protests have also prompted a surge of public support for Black Lives Matter movement, accompanied by an influx in donations to many different racial justice groups and legislative action by federal lawmakers.

In Washington, D.C., mayor ordered words “Black Lives Matter” painted across a street near White House, which also has been renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza. words have w been painted on streets in several major cities.

On Thursday, Trump also tweeted his disapproval of plans to paint words in front of his former hequarters in Manhattan.

“Told that @NYCMayor Bill de Blasio wants to paint fabled & beautiful Fifth Avenue, right in front of Trump Tower/Tiffany, with a big yellow Black Lives Matter sign,” he tweeted. “NYC Police are furious!”