Tag: Trump Bible photo op

Here are 7 disturbing revelations from a National Guard officer about Trump’s Lafayette Square disaster

AlterNet logoAn officer in the D.C. National Guard delivered a damning account of the events surrounding the federal crackdown on protesters in Lafayette Square in testimony released by the House of Representatives on Monday.

Adam DeMarco, a senior officer tapped to serve as a liaison between the National Guard and the Park Police, was on the scene during the June 1 assault on protesters, as his opening statement for a planned hearing on Tuesday explained. While the president gave a speech to reporters at the White House, federal officers, including the Park Police, violently cleared demonstrators, the media, and others from the nearby area. Shortly thereafter, the president walked across the street that had been cleared for a photo-op at St. John’s Church.

Though presumably intended to bolster Trump’s political standing, the optics of the events clearly backfired, as Vanity Fair reported: Continue reading.

National Guard officer calls treatment of Lafayette Square protesters ‘deeply disturbing’

Adam DeMarco will testify before a House panel on Tuesday that he observed a disproportionate law enforcement reaction against protesters.

A District of Columbia National Guard officer claimed law enforcement used excessive force on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square last month, directly disputing the White House’s account of events that led to a photo-op during the height of demonstrations against racial injustice.

Adam DeMarco, a major in the D.C. National Guard and Iraq War veteran, will testify on Tuesday in front of the House Natural Resources Committee that he observed a brutal law enforcement reaction against protesters exercising their First Amendment rights. A copy of his prepared testimony was released Monday.

“Members of the Committee, the events I witnessed at Lafayette Square on the evening of June 1 were deeply disturbing to me, and to fellow National Guardsmen,” DeMarco’s written testimony said. “Having served in a combat zone, and understanding how to assess threat environments, at no time did I feel threatened by the protestors or assess them to be violent.” Continue reading.

Park Police did not record their radio transmissions during Lafayette Square operation on June 1

Washington Post logoCritical record of how police launched sweep against protesters is lost

Audio of the forceful push led by U.S. Park Police to sweep protesters out of Lafayette Square on June 1, moments before President Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church, was not recorded by the Park Police radio communications system, the agency said Tuesday.

The sudden march into the group of protesters, featuring members of the Park Police, Secret Service, D.C. National Guard and Arlington County police, is now under investigation by Congress and the inspectors general of the Interior Department and Justice Department and the subject of civil lawsuits. The sweep along H Street caused an uproar because police used smoke and chemical irritants, along with officers on horseback, to clear out protesters well before a 7 p.m. curfew, with advance announcements that many said they did not hear.

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which is investigating the June 1 incident, said Tuesday that “Trump administration officials ordered the attack on clergy, nonviolent protesters, and working members of the press. For the official audio record of that day to now turn up missing has every appearance of a coverup.” Continue reading.

Trump: Esper, Milley “should be proud” of Lafayette Square walk

Axios logoPresident Trump declined on Friday to say he retains full confidence in Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and said Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley should have been “proud” to join him on the now-infamous walk across Lafayette Square.

Driving the news: “I personally think they should have done it differently,” Trump told Axios in an interview Friday in the Oval Office. “I think they should be proud to walk alongside of their president for purposes of safety.”

Why it matters: Despite initial indications that he accepted their pushback against him, Trump remains irked by his top military leaders’ public statements. Esper told colleagues he felt deeply uncomfortable being drawn into the photo op at St. John’s church, and Milley publicly apologized for his participation in the episode.

Michigan pollster: Trump’s Bible photo op caused immediate drop in support

President Donald Trump’s support among Michigan voters took a sharp dive in polls taken immediately after protesters were forcefully removed so Trump could have his photo taken holding a Bible outside a historic church.

Two surveys of Michigan voters taken by Lansing polling firm EPIC-MRA found a widening gap between Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden after protests against police brutality began outside the White House and across the country. One poll conducted from May 30 to June 3 found Biden leading by 12 percentage points, but the second poll, which started and ended just one day later, recorded a 16-point lead for the former vice president.

EPIC-MRA pollster Bernie Porn attributed the quick drop to public backlash and negative press resulting from Trump’s staged photo on June 1. The two polls collected responses from separate samples of 600 likely Michigan voters and both had a 4% margin of error. Continue reading.

Officials familiar with Lafayette Square confrontation challenge Trump administration claim of what drove aggressive expulsion of protesters

Washington Post logoDuring the nearly two weeks since authorities charged at peaceful protesters to push them from D.C. streets — about 30 minutes before President Trump walked through the area for a photo op — his aides, the attorney general and federal law enforcement officials have sought to shield the president from political fallout with a simple defense: one scene, they say, had nothing to do with the other.

The notion that the street-clearing offensive around Lafayette Square was already planned, and separate from Trump’s decision to visit a nearby church, has emerged as the administration’s central explanation for scenes of federal officers shoving protesters with shields and firing pepper balls, chemical grenades and smoke bombs at retreating crowds on June 1.

“This was not an operation to respond to that particular crowd. It was an operation to move the perimeter one block,” Attorney General William P. Barr told CBS News last week. Continue reading.

Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op

The Hill logoJoint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley says he regrets his participation in President Trump’s photo opportunity outside St. John’s Church last week.

“I should not have been there,” Milley said during a recorded message aired at the graduation of the National Defense University on Thursday morning. “My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.”

“As a commissioned, uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from,” he said. “And I sincerely hope we all can learn from it.” Continue reading.

Trump’s Approval Slips Where He Can’t Afford to Lose It: Among Evangelicals

New York Times logoPolls and private concerns from top social conservatives show the president’s standing with the cornerstone of his base isn’t what it used to be. A photo op with the Bible was supposed to help fix that.

President Trump needs every vote he got from white evangelicals in 2016 — and then some. Hoisting a Bible in the air may not be enough.

Unnerved by his slipping poll numbers and his failure to take command of the moral and public health crises straining the country, religious conservatives have expressed concern in recent weeks to the White House and the Trump campaign about the president’s political standing.

Their rising discomfort spilled out into the open this week when the founder of the Christian Coalition, Pat Robertson, scolded the president for taking such a belligerent tone as the country erupted in sorrow and anger over the police killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis. Continue reading.

Press Secretary Compares Trump Photo Op To Churchill During London Blitz

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared Donald Trump’s photo-opwith a Bible to the actions of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.

McEnany specifically compared Trump’s three-minute appearance outside a church, after protesters were tear-gassed to clear the site for him, to Churchill inspecting sites of bomb damage during the London Blitz that killed tens of thousands of civilians.

She also compared Trump’s brief performance with previous presidential actions, like George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch after 9/11. Continue  reading.