Trump offers rare support to journalists

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — President Donald Trump has offered a statement of support for journalists after a gunman fatally shot five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland.

He said Friday at the White House that “journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their jobs.”

Trump routinely calls the reporters who cover him “fake news” and “liars” and labels them “enemies of the people.”

A gunman shot his way into the newsroom of the Capital Gazette on Thursday, leaving five people dead.

Authorities and court records show the suspect had a well-documented history of harassing the paper’s journalists.

Trump said he is thinking of the survivors and the families of the “horrific, horrible” murders.