Attorney General William Barr’s claim that “foreign actors” are stoking US protests is an insult to American citizens and a dismissal of the country’s problems, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Speaking on Thursday to Govorit Moskva radio, Zakharova called out Barr’s attempts to blame the violence on US streets on someone else.
Earlier in the day, the attorney general held a press conference with other Justice Department officials on the unrest that has gripped the nation for over a week. Barr denounced the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota and expressed his support for “peaceful protesters,” promising to probe civil rights violations by the police.
At the same time, he accused Antifa and other “extremist groups” of hijacking the protest to engage in violence and “senseless acts of anarchy.” Barr also alleged that some unspecified “foreign actors” have been “playing all sides to exacerbate the violence.”
This was the first time the Trump administration pointed the finger of blame beyond US borders, but the American establishment critical of the president – including the corporate media – have been doing so for days.
After the initial peaceful protests in Minnesota turned into widespread looting, arson and violence, President Obama’s former national security adviser Susan Rice blamed the Democrats’ favorite bogeyman, Russia.
Rice told CNN that if anyone from outside was stirring unrest, it would certainly be the Kremlin.
“I would bet, based on my experience, I’m not reading the intelligence these days, but based on my experience this is right out of the Russian playbook as well,” Rice said, without providing any actual evidence for the claim.
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