Fox’s Ed Henry Falsely Claims Police Didn’t Pepper Spray White House Protesters, Dana Perino Dissents

Fox News anchor Ed Henry claimed that D.C. police did not use pepper spray to disperse peaceful protesters who were assembled outside of the White House on Monday — a statement contradicted by the police.

As Henry spoke with Dana Perino on Wednesday, he made the claim while speaking about how Defense Secretary Mark Esper distanced himself from Trump’s church ploy.

“We should also point out though that some of the reporting from a couple nights ago was false, which is that there was all of this talk that really spun this up into a controversy, that pepper spray and whatnot was used,” Henry said. “The U.S. Park police has come out strongly and said that was not true.”

While Park Police denied using tear gas on the protesters, it admitted to using pepper balls, projectiles that contain pepper spray, which the CDC considers to be a riot control agent.

“Nonetheless, pushing peaceful protesters out of the way for a photo-op wasn’t a good look for this White House, and it certainly wasn’t a good look for the defense secretary and it’s very clear he was trying to clean that up,” Henry continued.

Perino made a counterpoint to Henry: “When you’re explaining pepper balls versus pepper spray, it’s not necessarily a good one to have to do.”

The Park Police and the White House have denied tear gas was used to disperse the crowd, despite reporting from the ground that chemical irritants were used on the protesters. As we’ve previously noted, the CDC considers pepper spray a form of tear gas, and their website classifies pepper spray as a “riot control agent.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

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