Trump’s speech at Fort Bragg contained lies and conspiracy theories about LA

The US president reiterated falsehoods and misleading statements to troops at the North Carolina military base

Donald Trump repeated several lies and deceptive claims on the tensions in the second-largest city in the United States on Tuesday as Los Angeles prepared for the entrance of more federal troops.

Trump disseminated conspiracy theories, disparaged Democratic officials in California, and falsely depicted demonstrators as being a part of a “foreign invasion” while speaking to troops at the Fort Bragg military installation in North Carolina.

Following protests against immigration sweeps that began on Friday, the remarks were made as the city of angels was ready to welcome hundreds of more military assigned to guard immigration enforcement officers.

It is anticipated that the 300 national guard personnel that Trump federalized over California leaders’ protests will soon grow to 4,000.

Trump falsely claims protesters are bearing foreign flags as part of a ‘foreign invasion’

Trump made the ludicrous accusation that hired “rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion” are spearheading the demonstrations against immigration sweeps in Los Angeles during his intensely politicized address at Fort Bragg.

The remarks echoed claims made by top Trump adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller, who claimed on social media on Sunday that “foreign nationals, waving foreign flags” were “rioting.” Earlier this week, Trump’s homeland security secretary Kristi Noem made an unfounded accusation against Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, saying she was “encouraging violent protests.”

In a display of ethnic pride, some demonstrators have waved the flags of Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador in recent days, along with flags that blend the flags of those countries with the US flag.

Trump repeats baseless conspiracy theory that bricks were staged for protesters in LA

Trump also brought up a widely circulated conspiracy theory that demonstrators in Los Angeles were given pallets of bricks to throw at police officers. “They brought bricks,” Trump remarked.

During the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that followed George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, this assertion was stated on several occasions.

The week following Floyd’s murder, in June 2020, the Trump White House added credence to the widely circulated conspiracy theory by publishing a collection of social media video clips of people who mistakenly thought that “Antifa and professional anarchists” had planted brick piles they saw there to incite violence during demonstrations.