The Secret Service asserted Thursday that “no agency personnel” used tear gas or capsicum spray during the clearing of Lafayette Park earlier this week before President Trump visited St. John’s Church.
“The Secret Service has determined that no agency personnel used tear gas or capsicum spray during its efforts to secure the area near Lafayette Park on Monday, June 1st, 2020,” a Secret Service spokesperson said.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Park Police (USPP) denied using tear gas to clear away protesters in the park, after reports that they used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear mostly peaceful protesters.
In a statement released Tuesday by the USPP, the law enforcement agency said “no tear gas was used” when clearing a large group of protestors from the area. The USPP said it took the steps “to curtail the violence that was underway,” pushing back against claims that the protest was entirely peaceful.
“At approximately 6:33 pm, violent protestors on H Street NW began throwing projectiles including bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids,” the USPP said in a statement. “The protestors also climbed onto a historic building at the north end of Lafayette Park that was destroyed by arson days prior. Intelligence had revealed calls for violence against the police, and officers found caches of glass bottles, baseball bats and metal poles hidden along the street.”
Still, the Park Police acknowledged using smoke canisters and pepper balls on the protesters.
“As many of the protestors became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls when protestors did scatter from the area,” the statement said.
The move by the USPP came shortly after Attorney General William Barr observed the scene at Lafayette Park across from the White House, where several thousand protesters had gathered for more demonstrations after the death of George Floyd while in police custody.
Soon afterward — and just as Trump was about to address the media in the Rose Garden — law enforcement officers aggressively forced the protesters back, firing what at the time was reported to be tear gas and deploying flashbangs into the crowd to disperse them from the park for seemingly no reason. It was a jarring scene as police in the nation’s capital forcefully cleared young men and women gathering legally in a public park on a sunny evening, all of it on live television.
With smoke still wafting and isolated tussles continuing in the crowd, Trump emerged in the Rose Garden for a dramatic split-screen of his own creation.
“I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters,” he said, before demanding that governors across the nation deploy the National Guard “in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets.” And he warned that, if they refused, he would deploy the United States military “and quickly solve the problem for them.”
As an additional show of force, Trump announced he was deploying even more of the military to Washington, D.C., giving it the feel of an armed, locked-down city after days of at-times violent clashes, arson and looting.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she never requested help from neighboring jurisdictions to quell demonstrations and added that D.C. officials flatly rejected a proposal floated by the Trump administration to take over the local police department, and threatened legal action if they did.
The federal government has deployed law enforcement officials from numerous agencies, and National Guard troops from a number of states have been sent to the District of Columbia. Barr is directing the federal law enforcement response in the city.
just the lies and hate machine of the terrorist and the democrats
How can “peaceful” protesters CONTINUE with their protest when they can SEE their platform being used by anarchists to burn, loot and destroy?? To provide support for this criminal behavior is to condone it.
Who ever planned this is really a mastermind?? I wonder who it is???
who does this alleged mayor think she is Washington DC is the American Capital, it is not your city , remove her
Wahinton DC is the capital of America , not this mayors city
In Washington DC the President is in charge
i quess the one deleting the posts thinks he or she in in charge, must be a democrat
Allow private citizens to use their own weapons of choice to protect themselves, families and helpless individuals against antifa. They are terrorist that are getting away with murdering innocent people because they have been paid to do so. We are not stupid, we prefer peace, but when they will not allow peace to happen, it leaves the average citizen as a target without the ability to defend themselves which even animals have a right to do. Drastic times calls for drastic measures, so it should be legal for there to be a nationwide concealed carry. It is not unconstitutional and it is the very reason we have the 2nd Amendment anyway. It would help if the guilty parties would be punished for their criminal behavior, instead of allowing them to run rampant out of prisons to commit crimes within minutes of release and now antifa mixed in–law abiding citizens are becoming like sitting ducks. Better to have the innocent able to defend themselves. Also, stop the George Soros’s from financing the criminal behavior without ever being punished or held responsible. Better to have the law-abiding citizens to be able to defend themselves with the blessings of our leader, than to see them murdered in the streets by thugs and turn into vigilantes doing what our leadership could not or would not do. Sooner or later, the citizens will retaliate and it will be 100x worse than it is now. imho
I wish that they had used tear gas. The “peaceful protesters” ( that is a joke) we’re trying to destroy and destabilize our Nations Capital. This is nonsense they are using the tragic death of one man ( a convicted felon) to destroy our country. I live in New York which resembles Baghdad after the riots and looting that took place here. There is a silent majority in this country that minds their own business and follows the law we work hard and take care of our families we do not have time to protest or loot we are just starting to try to get back to normal after this terrible pandemic and instead of trying to unite this country the Democrats and Rhinos and the liberal media and the crazy socialists and the silent minority are trying to take over. They have the media in their back pocket so it is easy to make it look like they are the majority ( THEY ARE NOT) believe me every person in this country who saw what happened to George Floyd was very distressed and the police officer that committed this act is now behind bars. There are evil people in every walk of life cops, doctors, politicians, clergy everywhere and that does not mean that all people in those professions are evil does it. However with call to “ defund” the police and trying to shame people into agreement with their agenda by trying to stifle people’s voices that do not agree with theirs ( cancel culture) ect you are only making the silent majority more angry and you do not even realize it. In my neighborhood there is an outdoor store that had a line on this past Monday and Tuesday around the block for people who were purchasing guns I live in an upscale area of Long Island it was reported quietly on the news that gun sales were up for the past two weeks all around the country( why do you think that is?) This is America we will not stand for socialism we will not be told we can not go back to work or Church, Temple, Mosques, or any religious services. Sadly many people were not allowed to have funeral services but George Floyd gets three. The rioters ( oh right sorry the peaceful protesters) lol are allowed to gather by the thousands many with no masks but they won’ t spread the virus. We were told over and over again that the Black community was hurt more by the COVID-19 virus so then why are we allowing them to hurt themselves and others by spreading the virus when we were told that if we left our homes to work or see our families or shop we were killing grandma and grandpa. We are sick of the hypocrisy and we will fight back if we have too.
So what if they did. Ad soon ad the first item was thrown they became aggressive and it went from peaceful protest to riot. Whah. You get what you deserve i have no sympathy for crimunals.
These RIOTERS are scum paid to abolish our free society They get paid and get to keep all that they steel, all of you people that think it is about a black man whom put a GUN to a pregnet womans stomach got SH%% for brains
May God pour his blessings upon America. The land of the free is in trouble.
Sources I get info from say the park service police had been clearing demonstrators/rioters from the area and knew nothing of the President’s plans. all the secret service did was escort the President over to the church.
They have Martyred a Career Criminal & Felon.
Though he didn’t deserve to be choked, I find it REALLY ODD. The ONES COMMITTING CRIMES are ALWAYS PRESUMED TO BE ANGELS……