More than 118,000 people have signed a petition for the US Black Lives Matter civil rights movement to be deemed a terrorist group, enough to warrant a response from the White House.
It took only a week to surpass the 100,000-signature threshold necessary to put the issue on the presidential administration’s agenda.
“It is time for the pentagon to be consistent in its actions – and just as they rightfully declared ISIS [Islamic State] a terror group, they must declare Black Lives Matter a terror group – on the grounds of principle, integrity, morality, and safety,” the text of the petition reads.
The petition was started on July 6 after the shooting of African-American man Alton Sterling by two policemen in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Another African-American man, Philando Castile, was killed by police in the state of Minnesota the following day.
These incidents have provoked public outrage across the country. A Black Lives Matter demonstration against police brutality toward African Americans took place in Dallas, Texas, during which five police officers were killed in a sniper attack on July 7.
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