AFL-CIO president: Rioters' damage to DC headquarters 'disgraceful'
He said property damage was 'senseless, disgraceful'
Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik argues mayors are not supporting cops during riots and protests.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Monday condemned the damage caused by rioters to the union group's headquarters in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.
PROTESTERS START FIRES NEAR WHITE HOUSE
"We categorically reject those on the fringes who are engaging in violence and destroying property," Trumka said in a statement. "Attacks like the one on the AFL-CIO headquarters are senseless, disgraceful and only play into the hands of those who have oppressed workers of color for generations and detract from the peaceful, passionate protesters who are rightly bringing issues of racism to the forefront."
Rioters smashed windows and spray-painted explicit messages on the headquarters of the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union federation with more than 12 million members. Businesses, offices and even churches throughout Washington, D.C., were also damaged.
Trumka also addressed the protests taking place throughout the U.S. in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died last Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck, saying racism "is a labor issue because it is a workplace issue."
People run out of a smoke shop in New York with smoking instruments after breaking in. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
People run from tear gas canisters along U.S. 30 in Hobart, Ind. (John J. Watkins/The Times via AP)
People look through a 7-Eleven store after they entered through a smashed window in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A young man throws a trash can through the window of an AT&T store in New York. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen).
People run as police arrive to the scene of a broken into smoke shop in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
People grab items inside a pharmacy that had its windows broken in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Items are taken from a Gap store in Santa Monica, Calif., during unrest and protests. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
People peer under a security barrier on a window at a pharmacy in Philadelphia as people protest over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Demonstrators pull the metal fence from a storefront in Santa Monica, Calif., during unrest and protests over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Police officers stand in front of a business with a broken window in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Items are taken from a Vans store Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Santa Monica, Calif., during unrest and protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who was in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A firefighter yells from a vandalized Converse store Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Santa Monica, Calif., during unrest and protests over the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A crew installs plywood to protect windows at a Rituals store, Sunday, May 31, 2020, on the corner of Broadway in the SoHo neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York, after a night of protests against the death of George Floyd spawned vandalism in the high-end shopping area. Floyd died while in police custody on Memorial Day in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Glass cracked by bricks thrown through the window of a Chanel store by protesters Saturday night is visible, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in New York, at the store in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Angry demonstrators protesting the death of George Floyd vandalized the neigbhorhood after marching through the area on Saturday. Floyd died in police custody on Memorial Day in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
"I watched the video of George Floyd pleading for his life under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer," Trumka said. "No person of conscience can hear Floyd’s cries for help and not understand that something is deeply wrong in America."
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Just blocks away from the union group's headquarters, demonstrators gathered around the White House to protest on Sunday night. The AFL-CIO endorsed Joe Biden, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, in May.
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