Trump's anti-Muslim tweets raise controversy

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday retweeted three videos showing Muslims conducting violence, raising controversy home and abroad.

Trump shared the three videos, titled "Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!" "Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!" and "Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!" without comment. It is unclear what prompted him to share the videos.

In the first video, a group of young men was taunting another young man using crutches. One of the attackers later beat the latter to the ground.

In the second video, two men appeared in the shot, one holding a statue of Virgin Mary. The person holding the statue smashed it after making a statement in Arabic. A chorus of "Allah is great" was heard afterwards.

In the third video, a group of men, one of whom with a black flag which closely resembled the one used by the Islamic State group, were on the roof of a building. A person was pushed off a tower onto the roof and was later beaten by the men.

All of the videos were crude and seemed to be shot by cell phones. The Dutch embassy in the United States said the attacker in the first video was not an immigrant but was born and raised in the Netherlands, and had prior convictions.

The third video first surfaced in Egypt, according to media reports.

The videos were originally posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of British far right group Britain First, who said the videos were from the Internet and did not provide the context under which the videos were shot.

Shortly after Trump shared the videos, the British prime minister's office issued a statement saying it was "wrong" for Trump to share the videos from someone who was known to promote nationalistic and anti-immigrant views.

"British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far-right which is the antithesis of the values that this country represents: decency, tolerance and respect," the statement read.

U.S. lawmakers also raised eyebrows over the incident, saying Trump's actions were unwise.

"It is abhorrent that President Trump would choose to deliberately fan the flames of hatred and religious bigotry," Democratic U.S. Senator Jack Reed said in a statement, while his Republican counterpart John McCain said he was "surprised."

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders later defended Trump's post, saying he wanted to promote national security and enhance border protection.

"Whether it's a real video, the threat is real, and that is what the president is talking about," Sanders told reporters.

Trump also took a shot at British Prime Minister Theresa May, calling on her to not "focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!" Enditem