Trump retweets interview of activist slamming George Floyd

US president Donald Trump on Sunday shared an interview in which conservative activist Candace Owens termed George Floyd as a symbol of a 'broken culture in black America today' and mentioned that “he was not a good person”.

George Floyd, 46, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, has become a fresh symbol of police brutality against blacks and sparked civil unrest not seen in the United States for years.

The protests have led to major US cities including Los Angeles, Atlanta and Philadelphia ordering its citizens to remain indoors after thousands took to the streets to protest against the crime.

During an interview with radio host Glenn Beck, who shared the interview on Twitter before it was retweeted by President Trump, Owen said: “George Floyd was not a good person. I don’t care who wants to spin that, I don’t care how CNN wants to make you think that he had just turned his life around.”

“The fact that he has been held up as a martyr sickens me,” Owen commented, adding that Mr Floyd had served five stints in jail: “Was he really going to turn things around? It’s just not true.”

In response,Beck took to his Twitter account and said: “I don’t care WHAT George Floyd did. The officer should have never treated him like that and killed him! But we still must ask: Is he a HERO?”

Earlier in several interviews, Trump had blamed the extreme left for the violence, including widespread looting and arson in Minneapolis, saying rioters were dishonoring the memory of Floyd.

"We cannot and must not allow a small group of criminals and vandals to wreck our cities and lay waste to our communities," the president had said.

"My administration will stop mob violence. And we'll stop it cold," he added, accusing the loose-knit militant anti-fascist network Antifa of orchestrating the violence.