President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the brutal and controversial crackdown on protesters in Washington last week by law enforcement groups ― including the Secret Service, which he referred to as the “S.S.”
Twitter critics exploded over Trump’s use of the notorious initials for perhaps the vilest paramilitary squad in history: Adolf Hitler’s Schutzstaffel. The U.S. Secret Service is sometimes referred to as the USSS, not the SS. Germany’s SS, originally Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit, evolved into a combat force during World War II and was in charge of the murder of more than 6 million Jews and others in the Holocaust.
Trump gushed in his tweet that a member of the National Guard called it a “walk in the park” to deal with protesters “around the White House.”
Then he added a shoutout to the “S.S.” The “protesters, agitators, anarchists (ANTIFA), and others, were handled VERY easily by the Guard, D.C. Police, & S.S. GREAT JOB!” he gloated.
The protests in Washington were spotlighted on June 1 when peaceful anti-racism protesters gathered in and around Lafayette Park across the street from the White House were rushed by law enforcement officers in riot gear to clear the way for him to walk to a church and pose with a Bible for a photo-op. Protesters were beaten with batons, slammed with shields, manhandled, tear-gassed and struck with rubber bullets.
Critics on Twitter erupted over both Trump’s boasting about the assault on the protesters — and hailing the “S.S.” Some wondered if it was an “intentional mistake.” Others noted how Hitler hid in a bunker as Allied troops advanced toward Berlin to finally end his evil regime, and referred to Trump briefly taking refuge in a bunker at the White House one evening as the demonstrations in Lafayette Park grew unruly.
The Secret Service did not respond to a HuffPost request for comment.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Black Lives Matter have sued the Trump administration for what the groups called an “unconstitutional” and “frankly criminal attack” on the protesters in the attack earlier this month.
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