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Federal police officers violently ended a peaceful protest from Lafayette Square in June 2020 to install a fence, a federal investigation found, contradicting eyewitness accounts of protesters forcefully dispersed so that former President Donald Trump could take pictures outside the church.
According to a report released Wednesday, the inspector general of the Department of the Interior, the US Parks Police (USPP), the Secret Service, as well as six other law enforcement agencies, have planned to clear the park for a contractor to install the scale. That evening before they realized Trump’s intention to walk across the park to take the now infamous photograph.
The report stated that the process of dispersing the crowd took place on the morning of 1 June. Investigators spoke with officials with the USPP and the National Park Service – which operates the park – as well as several other law enforcement officers who provided more information about the planned activities.
The violent dispersal of protesters occurred as Trump prepared to walk to church after days of racial justice demonstrations across the country. He was accompanied by senior military leaders and then Attorney General Bill Barr.
BuzzFeed News reporter Kadia Juba, then part of the White House press corps, reported hearing “loud rattling noises, the kind you might hear during a war” during Trump’s brief remarks at the White House before he walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Officers can also be seen firing tear gas into the crowd – a fact many officials, including Barr, initially denied – and violently arresting protesters. The incident shocked a nation already angry at police brutality against protesters and the killing of George Floyd.
Wednesday’s report included the timeline of USPP plans and fence installation, as well as Trump’s march to church. Police pushed protesters out of the park from 6:23 to 6:50 p.m. Trump’s rally began at 7:01 p.m., work on the fence installation began at 7:30 p.m. and lasted for five hours.
A video of a reconstruction of events by the Washington Post shows Trump starting his speech at the White House at 6:44 p.m. Meanwhile, officers were seen detaining protesters and throwing chemical bombs at crowds.
At 7:08 p.m., Trump carried the Bible outside the church for a three-minute photo shoot before returning to the White House, according to the Washington Post.
Although investigators said there was no evidence that Barr affected the USPP’s schedule, the report raises questions about his involvement in the process. Barr, who denied ordering the protesters’ dispersal, was not met by investigators, contrary to what a Justice Department official and former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has claimed.
According to the report, Barr arrived at Lafayette Square at 6:10 p.m., and a USP official was seen in a news video chatting with him. The official said he advised Barr to stay away from the crowds, and the attorney general responded with the question, “Are these people still here when [President of the United States] Out?”
The USPP official told investigators that he did not know prior to his interaction with Barr that Trump was going to Lafayette Square.
“I’m not involved in issuing such tactical orders,” Barr told the Associated Press days after the incident. “I was frustrated and also worried that as the crowd grew, it would be harder and harder to do. So my attitude was to get it done, but I didn’t say, ‘Go and do it.'” “
The report detailed the USPP’s plan to clear the park but did not address the violent law enforcement tactics that afflicted many of the protesters “because these are the subject of separate investigations as well as ongoing lawsuits.”
Mark Lee Greenblatt, the Home Office’s Inspector General, acknowledged that the department does not have oversight authority with other law enforcement agencies the USPP works with.
The report also found that there was poor communication and coordination between the USPP and its law enforcement partners during the operation, which “may have contributed to confusion during the operation and the use of tactics that appeared inconsistent with the incident commander’s operational plan.”
The June 1 incident was a defining moment in Trump’s presidency, even in the midst of a reign beleaguered by scandal and controversy.
In a statement on the findings of the Ministry of Interior, Wednesday, the former president praised the inspector general for his “acquittal”, describing the report as “extremely detailed and professionally written.”
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