Trump Makes Surprise Visit at Historic Church Near White House

Lafayette Park

Episcopal leaders “outraged” that protestors were cleared for the president’s brief appearance where he raised a Bible for a photo op at St. John’s.

It began with Attorney General Bill Barr standing with his hands casually in his pockets, not wearing a tie, surveying the scene at Lafayette Park across from the White House, where several thousand protesters had gathered for more demonstrations after the police killing of George Floyd.

President Donald Trump had announced he would soon be addressing the nation from the White House Rose Garden, as a 7 p.m. curfew in the city loomed and a mass of law enforcement, including US Secret Service agents, Park Police, and National Guardsmen, stood sentry, many dressed in riot gear.

Moments before 6:30 p.m., just when Trump said he would begin his address, the officers suddenly marched forward, directly confronting the protesters as many held up their hands, saying, “Don't shoot.”

Soon, law enforcement officers were aggressively forcing the protesters back, firing tear gas, and deploying flash bangs 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 gathered 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. Read More

Also See:
George Floyd death: Trump's church visit shocks religious leaders
Trump Abused ‘our sacred space’ with Photo Op, Bishop Says

By all accounts, Lafayette Park could have been cordoned off several hours earlier before a large crowd of protesters had gathered. Eye witnesses report that the crowd made no provocative moves toward law enforcement. There was no need for the aggressive dispersal of the demonstrators with tear gas and flash bangs that occurred before the president's speech. One might suspect President Trump of engaging in political theater. The president posing with a Bible before St. John's church and his subsequent visit to the Catholic shrine of St. John-Paul II appears to have been aimed at evangelical and Catholic members of his base and has been widely-criticized.