Trump shares activist’s videos of alleged violence by Muslims

UPDATE: A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain First, the anti-immigration group whose tweets President Donald Trump shared Wednesday, seeks to divide communities through its use of “hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions” and “it is wrong for the president to have done this.” May’s office said an invitation for Trump to pay a state visit to Britain was not being withdrawn amid calls from opposition politicians for its cancellation.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (11:35 a.m.): WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump retweeted three provocative videos from a British nationalist group Wednesday purportedly depicting violent acts by Muslims. Jayda Fransen of Britain First posted the videos on Twitter. One shows a man, identified in the tweet as a Muslim migrant, attacking a boy with crutches. Another depicts a Muslim throwing a statue of the Virgin Mary to the ground and breaking it. The third video shows a group of men, one of whom is carrying what looks like an Islamic State (ISIS) flag, beating a boy and throwing him off a rooftop. None of the tweets included source information that could be used to verify the videos’ content. Fransen praised the president on Twitter after he shared her tweets with his nearly 44 million followers. “GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP!” she wrote. Britain First opposes Muslim immigration, and Trump’s retweets sparked anger from pro-Muslim groups in the United Kingdom. “This is the clearest endorsement yet from the U.S. president of the far-right and their vile anti-Muslim propaganda,” The Muslim Council of Britain wrote in a statement. “We cannot give such bigotry a free pass.” Several British politicians had similar reactions. David Lammy, a lawmaker for the British Labour Party tweeted that Trump was not welcome in Britain. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the tweets Wednesday, saying, “Whether it’s a real video, the threat is real. [The president’s] goal is to promote strong border security and strong national security.”