National Guard Officer Contradicts AG Barr’s Account of Clearing Protestors Ahead of Trump Photo Op: ‘Provoked Escalation’
Photo credit: Jose Luis Magana, AFP via Getty Images
An Army National Guard major who was on site at Lafayette Park on June 1 claims that the protestors in the park were peaceful and that the violent clearing of the area by federal officers using tear gas was “provoked escalation” and an “excessive use of force.” His account also contradicts Attorney General Bill Barr’s public comments about the sweeping of the park just minutes before an infamous photo op by President Donald Trump with a borrowed Bible.
According to the Washington Post, Major Adam DeMarco, an Iraq War veteran, was overseeing soldiers from the D.C. National Guard on site to backstop federal agents who had set up a cordon in Lafayette Park to protect the White House. DeMarco says there was no plan to clear the park of mostly peaceful demonstrators before the city’s 7:00 p.m curfew until Barr arrived on scene. But after the attorney general arrived, the timetable was accelerated despite the lack of provocative acts by the protestors.
Just minutes after protestors were cleared from Lafayette Park and the adjacent St. John’s Episcopal Church, Trump and an entourage of Secret Service and cabinet officials walked over from the White House for an infamous photo op that was widely condemned. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, who accompanied Trump on the walk over, has since apologized for his presence at what many have considered a political stunt.
In addition, Maj. DeMarco’s account undercuts the official White House and U.S. Park Police narrative that the protestors were cleared so that fencing could be quickly erected to protect the White House. He claims the fencing did not arrive till nearly 9:00 p.m. and wasn’t erected until hours after that.
DeMarco said he was coming forward “to help ensure that there is a fair factual record of what happened at Lafayette Square, based on what I saw and experienced first-hand.” He said that, having served in a combat zone and having experience in assessing threats, “at no time did I feel threatened by the protesters or assess them to be violent … From my observation, these demonstrators — our fellow American citizens — were engaged in the peaceful expression of their First Amendment rights. Yet they were subjected to an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force.
The major has revealed that Milley also appeared in the park before the tactical push into the protestors. Miller, DeMarco plans to testify, came into the park roughly a half-hour before Barr but was adamant that the military troops avoid overreacting. “General Milley told me to ensure that National Guard personnel remained calm, adding that we were there to respect the demonstrators’ First Amendment rights,” DeMarco will testify.
