While rallying with Black voters in Philadelphia on Wednesday, President Biden said former President Trump had sought to use tear gas on people “peacefully protesting” the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited Girard College, a predominantly black boarding school in Philadelphia, to thank black voters for helping win the presidential election in November 2020.
In his speech, the president focused on the issues his administration is working to improve the lives of Black voters, including removing lead pipes for safer drinking water, cleaning up pollution near fenced-in communities, providing affordable high-speed internet and protecting the Affordable Care Act.
“Promises kept,” Biden said.
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President Joe Biden spoke at a campaign rally at Girard College in Philadelphia on Wednesday. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
As Biden made his case at the event, he launched a relentless attack on his main presidential rival.
Biden told the crowd that Trump called the Jan. 6 rioters patriots and said he wanted to pardon them all.
“Let me ask you, what do you think? [Trump] What would have happened if black Americans had rioted on January 6th? [the Capitol]”I don’t think he’s going to talk about pardons. This is the same guy who tried to tear gas you guys who were peacefully protesting the murder of George Floyd,” Biden asked.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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Smoke rises from a police cruiser vehicle during riots that erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, on May 30, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Luke/File)
In May 2020, protests in Philadelphia over Floyd’s death and alleged police brutality began as peaceful rallies but later turned violent.
The violence included the defacing of an iconic statue of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, protesters climbing onto glass fixtures near a SEPTA subway entrance and at least 12 businesses being looted or defaced along the popular Chestnut and Walnut streets.
Several Philadelphia Police Department vehicles and a Pennsylvania State Police patrol car were set on fire nearby, and a Starbucks in Dilworth Plaza along the west wall of City Hall was seen engulfed in flames, according to reports.
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An undated photo of George Floyd, who died after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck outside a convenience store on May 25, 2020. Floyd died while trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. (Christopher Harris via Associated Press/File)
Officers eventually donned riot gear and confronted the crowd near City Hall at the intersection of 16th Avenue and Arch Street, where they reportedly pushed back the crowd, who were throwing projectiles, and tried to use a fence to breach the police line.
The first night of protests resulted in more than a dozen police officers being injured and a mandatory curfew being imposed.
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The White House did not immediately respond to a request from Fox News Digital seeking clarification on Biden’s statement that the protests were peaceful.
Protests and riots erupted across the United States throughout the spring and summer of 2020 following the death of Floyd, 46, in police custody in Minneapolis.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
