Trump calls the killer of Bangladeshi woman Yasmin in Florida an ‘Animal’

Chhabed Sathee: U.S. President Donald Trump has referred to the killer of Bangladeshi immigrant Nilufa Yasmin, who was murdered outside a gas station in Florida, as an “animal.” He has also faced criticism for his rhetoric on immigration and for posting a graphic, uncensored video of the incident.

Surveillance footage recorded on April 2 in Fort Myers shows an attack on Nilufa Yasmin, a Bangladeshi immigrant working as a store clerk. Local media identified the suspect as Rolbert Joachin, an unhoused Haitian immigrant.

On Thursday, Trump described him as an “illegal immigrant” and an “animal,” claiming that Haitians had been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the Biden administration. He called the video “one of the most vicious things you will ever see.” Earlier, the Department of Homeland Security had released a blurred version of the footage.

According to The Guardian, the post follows a familiar pattern in which Trump repeatedly highlights violent crimes and links them to immigration, sometimes inaccurately. For example, in his State of the Union address, he described the killing of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska in North Carolina as a result of “open border” policies, although the suspect in that case was born in the United States.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump also made controversial remarks about Haitians, falsely claiming they were “eating pets” in Ohio.

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The Trump administration’s effort to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haitians has been blocked by a federal judge. However, Trump argued that the Florida murder “should be enough for these radical judges to stop impeding” his immigration policies.

Critics say the sharing of the video is intended to stoke fear and fuel anti-immigrant sentiment. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council said it is a tactic to create public alarm.

Joachin, 40, was arrested on the day of the killing and faces charges of murder, criminal mischief, and property damage. Authorities said that a day before the incident, he had demanded money from the clerk after being unable to withdraw cash from a gas station ATM.

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