McConnell urges calm despite 'horrendous' events

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the latest cases of police brutality in Minneapolis and Louisville "absolutely horrendous," but he urged protestors in both cities to remain peaceful, saying senseless violence "is not helpful to anyone."

McConnell made the remarks to reporters outside of a hospital Friday in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, where he was visiting to thank front line workers during the virus.

McConnell said he can "understand the outrage" following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week after a white officer knelt on his neck for several minutes and Breonna Taylor, a black woman fatally shot by police in her home in March.

But he said, "we have a way of dealing with crime in this country, it's called prosecution and conviction."

McConnell said the officers involved in the Floyd case "looked pretty darn guilty." But they're sill "entitled to the protections of the Constitution and criminal trials."

McConnell refused to comment on President Donald Trump's tweet about the situation Friday morning calling the Minneapolis protesters "thugs" and threatening to intervene, saying, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts."