Breathless media reports that President Trump personally ordered peaceful protesters disbursed at Lafayette Park across from the White House, and that tear gas and rubber bullets were used to accomplish that removal are false, according to sources most familiar with the situation.
The media narrative was that the president wanted a photo-op next to the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was set on fire by rioters on Sunday night. Many “peaceful” protesters stood between Trump and the photo-op, so the president ordered them brushed aside, so that he might have his picture taken.
Most media simply ran with the narrative absent any real facts. CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post all ran their own versions of the story — all of them blaming the president and insisting that “peaceful protesters” were disbursed using the aforementioned brutal tactics.
But a statement issued by the United States Park Police (USPP) on Tuesday, pretty much lays waste to that entire narrative.
The “peaceful protesters” narrative was the first to go. “This past weekend’s demonstrations at Lafayette Park and across the National Mall included activities that were not part of a peaceful protest, which resulted in injuries to USPP officers in the line of duty, the destruction of public property and the defacing of memorials and monuments. During four days of demonstrations, 51 members of the USPP were injured; of those, 11 were transported to the hospital and released and 3 were admitted.”
So, while many protesters in Lafayette Park were indeed peaceful, probably even the majority of them, many others were thugs out to injure police and damage whatever they could, including the church that the president ultimately visited on Monday evening.
The media also insisted that while there was violence over the weekend, Monday’s protests were peaceful and that demonstrators had done nothing at all to provoke police or National Guard troops to disburse them in the way they did. But, this, at least according to the USPP, was also a fiction.
“At approximately 6:33pm, violent protesters on H Street NW began throwing projectiles including bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids. The protesters also climbed onto a historic building on the north of Lafayette Park that was destroyed by arson days prior. Intelligence had revealed calls for violence against the police, and officers found caches of glass bottles, baseball bats and metal poles hidden along the street.”
Why would a bunch of peaceful protesters need such weaponry?
Attorney General William Barr was in Lafayette Park just prior to the president’s walk-through and was reportedly the target of a bottle thrown at him. Barr was also said to be “surprised” that the park had not yet been cleared since a decision to expand the perimeter around the White House had been made sometime late Sunday night or early Monday morning — which would mean the decision to clear the park had nothing to do with the president’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal.
And the tear gas narrative? Also completely false. A reasonable person could jump to that conclusion, given that smoke that could clearly be seen on videos of the event. But there was no tear gas used — only smoke canisters, which contained no chemical irritants.
“As many of the protesters became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls. No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park.”
Presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden repeated the media’s lies without a second thought, accusing the president of “using tear gas and flash grenades in order to stage a photo op.”
Joe Biden just repeated the LIE that tear gas was used for a photo op.
Park Police has debunked this lie. Tear gas was not used, and they dispersed because objects were being thrown at police.
Fake news straight from the media’s tweets to Joe Biden’s mouth. pic.twitter.com/L33b51THXS
— Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) June 2, 2020
On the face of it, the claim that tear gas was used is ridiculous. Once used, tear gas can linger in an area for up to 45 minutes afterward. Knowing that the president was going to be walking through the area after it was cleared, does the media really believe that the Secret Service would allow the president to walk through the area without a gas mask?
Apologies on their “tear gas” narrative have not yet been forthcoming by the mainstream media and, in all likelihood, will never come. They all got what they wanted — a chance to act indignant at the use of excessive force on innocent protesters by President Trump. Never mind that none of it was true.
Image: Screenshot of CNN video
James Murphy is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of subjects, with a primary focus on the ongoing anthropogenic climate-change hoax and cultural issues. He can be reached a [email protected].
