Protesters outside White House update: DC mayor says using tear gas

To clear out White House protesters?

US News Today reported, the mayor of the nation's capital called it "shameful" that federal police forcefully removed protesters from the White House before the city's 7 p.m. curfew to apparently clear the way for the president to walk to St. John's Church.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote in a tweet that "A full 25 minutes before the curfew & w/o provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protesters in front of the White House". "Shameful!" she continued, and concluded by urging residents to go home and be safe.

Bowser said Tuesday federal law enforcement officials are responsible for protecting Lafayette Square and the area around the White House but that she did not think it was appropriate that they took the actions they did because the crowd was not violating the city's 7 p.m. curfew.

At about 6:30 p.m. law enforcement officers cleared Lafayette Park with tear gas, rubber bullets, shields and horses. Trump had yet to appear for his comments in the Rose Garden as the protesters, who at the time were peaceful, were being pushed back.

At 6:44 p.m., Trump began his comments by pledging to be a "law and order" president as officers continued to push protesters blocks away from where he was standing, using some form of projectile.

On Monday evening, federal authorities used tear gas to clear Lafayette Square so President Trump could pose for a photo while holding a Bible in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. It wasn’t the first time Trump has used the word of God as a political prop, Washington Post cites.

Clear out White House protesters?

Attorney General William P. Barr ordered federal law enforcement officers to clear peaceful protesters out of Washington’s Lafayette Park on Monday so that President Trump could walk to a historic church and have his picture taken there, NYT reported.

After President Trump threatened to deploy the military to crack down on protesters, his opponents and former military leaders condemned the response as incendiary, as a country ravaged by the coronavirus and unemployment plunged further into crisis.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, the likely Democratic nominee for president, said on Tuesday that the nation was “crying out for leadership” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, criticized Mr. Trump for being a “fanner of the flame” of division. Retired senior military leaders also spoke out against the strategy of deploying active-duty units onto America’s streets.

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