The lingering questions about the clearing of Lafayette Square
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The most important question asked about the clearing of Lafayette Square on June 1 of last year came that day from Attorney General William P. Barr.
Barr had come out of the White House shortly after President Donald Trump’s staff had alerted journalists that the president planned to make remarks from the Rose Garden that evening. Hundreds of protesters were still in and around the small park just north of the executive mansion,…
What was supposed to be a tour de force of optics turned into a searing image of chaos. His march through Lafayette Square, where moments before government officers had attacked peaceful protesters, symbolizes a lawless and anxiety-provoking administration https://t.co/VldzDcltVq
— Jennifer 'pro-voting' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 20, 2020
“Are these people still going to be here when POTUS comes out?”
“These people” were the protesters. And “POTUS,” of course, was the president of the United States…
We don’t know Barr’s side of the story because the inspector general’s report focused only on the conduct of the U.S. Park Police (USPP), the organization that falls within the Interior Department’s mandate. Many other agencies were on the scene that day, including Bureau of Prisons officers — airdropped in by the Justice Department in response to the ongoing protests — and the Secret Service.
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