June 2, 2020

President Donald Trump faced withering criticism in the hours after spurring a violent incursion against apparently peaceful protesters for the purposes of staging a political photo opportunity — provoking rebukes Tuesday from local and state executives, congressional lawmakers, faith leaders and even foreign governments over the extraordinary show of force amid converging national crises.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser revealed officials within her office were “very shocked and, quite frankly, outraged” by the aggressive dispersal of crowds demonstrating outside the White House on Monday evening, facilitated by police officers and National Guard troops firing rubber bullets and deploying flash-bang grenades.

The mayor insisted no officers with the Metropolitan Police Department were involved in the effort to force protesters from Lafayette Square and the surrounding area. The park was cleared nearly an hour before Washington’s 7 p.m. curfew was to go into effect in order to open a path for Trump, top White House aides and senior administration officials to venture across the street to historic St. John’s Episcopal Church.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/02/trump-protests-military-force-296368