Watchdog Report Sheds Some Light on What Led Up to Violence Around Trump's Infamous Church Photo-Op
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NBC Donald Trump
A watchdog report released Wednesday sheds new light on an infamous scene in the final months of Donald Trump's presidency, when federal officers violently cleared protestors from a park near the White House before Trump held a photo-op.
For a year, Democrats have called for more information on how the June 2020 clash, which involved multiple law enforcement agencies, unfolded and at whose direction.
The new report by the Interior Department's inspector general explains the U.S. Park Police's role as one of eight law enforcement agencies involved in the chaotic Lafayette Square operation.
The report found that there was already a plan in place to clear the crowds before Trump decided to walk across the square for photos at a nearby church.
Because of the number of different officials involved, and the limits of the Interior Department's jurisdiction, its watchdog report has noted limitations, however. Neither Trump's attorney general, Bill Barr, nor White House aides were interviewed about what happened.
Other investigations are ongoing.
"This report, which we anticipate is the first of a number of projects examining aspects of the events of June 1, focuses on what occurred from an operational perspective," Interior Department Inspector General Mark Lee Greenblatt said in a statement.
"If we had found that type of evidence [that Trump directed Park Police], we would not hesitate in presenting that, and saying that was influencing the Park Police's decision-making to clear the park," Greenblatt said, according to The Washington Post, adding: "If we had found that, if we had seen that type of evidence, we would absolutely have reported that, without a doubt
The report says investigators did not review "individual uses of force" by officers and that "these actions are the subject of separate inquiries or ongoing lawsuits."
According to the report, Park Police had already been planning to clear Lafayette Square in order to erect new fencing to increase the security perimeter around the White House.
This plan was in place before Trump, 74, decided to walk through the area for a photo-op outside St. John's Episcopal Church.
Pending a more expansive review, though, the full scope of how Trump's decision affected operations that day remains unclear. (The New York Times reported last year that Barr had given an order to break up the crowd.)
Cameras captured what happened next, as a mix of law enforcement officers released pepper pellets and flash-bangs onto the mostly peaceful crowd, who had gathered to protest police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis.
Protestors had been gathering outside the White House in the days leading up to the violent clearing last June, amid reports of altercations with officers and some vandalism. (Three days before, Trump was taken into an underground bunker as crowds grew outside the White House.)
Before the park was cleared, Trump declared himself "your president of law and order" in a White House speech as the clashes could be heard in the background.
He then walked to St. John's with members of his administration for the now notorious photo session, as he held a Bible up in front of the damaged church.
The Interior Department inspector general report says Park Police were not motivated by that decision, because of the preexisting plan to make way for a government contractor to install a new line of fencing around the area.
Nonetheless, the report notes numerous instances of miscommunication and a lack of coordination between the eight law enforcement agencies and Trump officials.
The report says Attorney General Barr informed the Park Police operations commander that the president was expected to walk through the park just 13 minutes before law enforcement began forcibly clearing the area.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" the commander responded, as news cameras caught him hanging his head and walking away from Barr.
Elsewhere, the report states that Park Police officials were notified in mid or late afternoon that the president would make the trip at some point later that day and that they planned to make way for the fencing after it arrived.`
According to the inspector general report, Secret Service entered the area before the order to disperse had been given and, as they clashed with protesters, they deployed pepper spray.
"Secret Service's early deployment drew additional protesters to the east end of H Street, increasing tensions between law enforcement and the protesters," the report states.
The operation to clear the park began at 6:23 p.m. and was completed by 6:50 p.m., about 11 minutes before Trump emerged from the White House.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty United States Park Police pushes back protestors near the White House on June 1, 2020 as demonstrations against George Floyd's death continue.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Military police officers are restraining a protestor near the White House on June 1, 2020 as demonstrations against George Floyd's death continue.
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The report says that miscommunication between the eight responding agencies and their inaudible warnings to protesters to leave the area also contributed, in part, to the erratic clearing.
The violence was widely documented on video and in photos.
One Australian news reporter said she was left injured after - as international news crews documented - heavily armed officers hit her and her cameraman with a baton and a shield.
"They're quite violent and they do not care who they're targeting at the moment," the reporter, Amelia Brace, said afterward.
"There was no escape at that moment," she said.
The Park Police report states that "not everyone could hear the warnings" law enforcement gave to protestors to have them leave the park voluntarily.
It adds that Park Police and Secret Service, the two agencies who planned the dispersal, "did not use a shared radio channel to communicate" and that the Park Police commander had been giving directions to officers via word of mouth.
Officers from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) also "arrived late and may not have received a full briefing on the rules of engagement," the report states, adding that several law enforcement officers couldn't hear the Park Police commander's dispersal warnings.
"The [Park Police] acting chief of police and the USPP incident commander told us they did not request the BOP's assistance and did not know who dispatched them to Lafayette Park on June 1," the report says.
According to the report, "video evidence we reviewed showed at least one BOP officer shooting pepper balls toward H Street," where law enforcement was working to clear protesters.
"The USPP liaison to the BOP told us he did not know whether the BOP fired pepper balls from the fence line and noted that the scene was 'chaotic,' " the report reads.
JOSE LUIS MAGANA/AFP via Getty Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators, shooting tear gas next to St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House on Monday
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Police officers hold a perimeter near the White House as demonstrators gather to protest the killing of George Floyd on June 1, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Trump released a statement Wednesday praising the inspector general's report for "Completely and Totally exonerating me in the clearing of Lafayette Park!" - which the report did not do.
The inspector general "did not seek to interview" officers from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Attorney General Barr, other White House personnel, members of the Metropolitan Police Department or members of the Secret Service as part of its investigation, though the report did draw on some information and documents voluntarily provided by other agencies.
Trump and the operation to clear protesters drew widespread condemnation from religious figures, U.S. military leaders and politicians.
