It began with Attorney General Bill Barr standing with his hands casually in his pockets, not wearing a tie, surveying the scene at Lafayette Park across from the White House, where several thousand protesters had gathered for more demonstrations after the police killing of George Floyd.
President Donald Trump had announced he would soon be addressing the nation from the White House Rose Garden, as a 7 p.m. curfew in the city loomed and a mass of law enforcement, including U.S. Secret Service agents, Park Police and National Guardsmen, stood sentry, many dressed in riot gear.
Moments before 6:30 p.m., just when Trump said he would begin his address, the officers suddenly marched forward, directly confronting the protesters as many held up their hands, saying, “Don’t shoot.”
Soon, law enforcement officers were aggressively forcing the protesters back, firing tear gas and deploying flashbangs into the crowd to disperse them from the park for seemingly no reason. It was a jarring scene as police in the nation’s capital forcefully cleared young men and women gathered legally in a public park on a sunny evening, all of it on live television.
With smoke still wafting and isolated tussles continuing in the crowd, Trump emerged in the Rose Garden for a dramatic split-screen of his own creation.
“I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters,” he declared, before demanding that governors across the nation deploy the National Guard “in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets.” And he warned that, if they refused, he would deploy the United States military “and quickly solve the problem for them.”
As an additional show of force, Trump announced he was deploying even more of the military to Washington, D.C., giving it the feel of an armed, locked-down city after days of violent clashes, arson and looting.
“As we speak I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers,” he said, as explosions rang out in the background. “We are putting everybody on warning.”
“I will fight to protect you.”— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) June 2, 2020
Trump declared himself “your president of law and order” during a Rose Garden address as peaceful protesters near the White House were hit with flash bangs and pepper spray. More @business: https://t.co/pTbV6BK7yU #protests2020 pic.twitter.com/cQFH0uPOsb
Then, before departing, Trump announced he wasn’t done for the evening and would be “going to pay my respects to a very very special place.”
Moments later, the White House press pool was quickly summoned for a surprise move. And soon after, Trump strolled out of the White House gates — something he had never done before — and walked across the park that had just been cleared to accommodate his movements.
Trump walked slowly, followed by an entourage of his most senior aides, security, and reporters. The faint residue of pepper spray hung in the air, stinging eyes and prompting coughing.
Sections of the park and surrounding sidewalks were strewn with garbage, including plastic water bottles and other debris. Some sections had been scrawled with graffiti.
Trump crossed H Street and walked toward St. John’s Church, the landmark pale yellow building where every president, including Trump, has prayed. It had been damaged Sunday night in a protest fire.
Trump, standing alone in front of cameras, then raised a black-covered Bible for reporters to see.
“We have a great country,” Trump said. “Greatest country in the world.”
He didn’t talk about Floyd, the church or the damage it had suffered, or the peaceful protester's police had cleared. He said nothing about the coronavirus pandemic, the parallel crisis that has continued to ravage the nation as Trump campaigns for a second presidential term. And then he invited his attorney general, national security adviser, chief of staff, press secretary and defense secretary — all-white — to join him for another round of photos before he walked back across the park to the White House.
At one point, he stopped and pumped his fist in the air at National Guard members in the distance.
“We’re going to keep it nice and safe,” he said.
Rabbi Jack Moline, the president of Interfaith Alliance, slammed the fact that peaceful protesters near the White House were gassed and shot with rubber bullets so Trump could hold his photo op.
“Seeing President Trump stand in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church while holding a Bible in response to calls for racial justice — right after using military force to clear peaceful protesters out of the area — is one of the most flagrant misuses of religion I have ever seen,” Moline said in a statement. This only underscores the president’s complete lack of compassion for Black Americans and the lethal consequences of racism.”
And the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, to which St. John’s belongs, said she was “outraged” by the moment and noted that Trump didn’t pray during his visit.
“He took the symbols sacred to our tradition and stood in front of a house of prayer in full expectation that would be a celebratory moment,” Budde told The Associated Press. “There was nothing I could do but speak out against that.”
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday suggested he would use federal troops to end the unrest that has erupted following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody last week.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a Bible during a photo opportunity in front of St. John's Episcopal Church in the midst of ongoing protests over racial inequality in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, outside the White House in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
“If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said during brief remarks at the White House.
The demonstrations have been largely peaceful, but police in some cities have used force against journalists and protesters, and protesters have clashed with police. Many U.S. cities have set curfews.
To deploy the armed forces, Trump would need to formally invoke a group of statutes known as the Insurrection Act.
WHAT IS THE INSURRECTION ACT?
Under the U.S. Constitution, governors generally have the authority to maintain order within state borders. This principle is reflected in a law called the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally bars the federal military from participating in domestic law enforcement.
The Insurrection Act, which dates to the early 1800s, creates an exception to the Posse Comitatus Act.
It permits the president to send in U.S. forces to suppress a domestic insurrection that has hindered the normal enforcement of U.S. law.
CAN TRUMP SEND IN TROOPS WITHOUT A GOVERNOR’S APPROVAL?
Yes. The law lays out scenarios in which the president is required to have approval from a state’s governor or legislature, and also instances where such approval is not necessary, said Robert Chesney, a professor of national security law at the University of Texas.
HAS IT BEEN INVOKED BEFORE?
Yes. The Insurrection Act has been invoked on dozens of occasions through U.S. history. Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, its use has become “exceedingly rare,” according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
The Insurrection Act was last used in 1992, when the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the beating of black motorist Rodney King led to deadly riots.
CAN A COURT STRIKE DOWN TRUMP’S APPLICATION OF THE LAW?
Chesney said a successful legal challenge to Trump’s use of the law was “very unlikely.” Courts have historically been very reluctant to second-guess a president’s military declarations, he said.
“The law, for all practical purposes, leaves this to the president with very little judicial review with any teeth,” Chesney said.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse peaceful demonstrators near the White House on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed a massive show of force to end violent protests over the death of a black man in police custody.
Law enforcement, including officers on horseback, moved on protesters in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House as Trump made his remarks from the Rose Garden.
The president pledged to end six nights of looting and violence in major cities across the nation “now,” saying he would deploy the U.S. military if state governors refused to call out the National Guard. “Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” Trump said. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
The police action against protesters cleared the way for Trump to walk from the White House to nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church along with other officials including U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Trump posed for photos at the church, which suffered minor damage the night before, holding up a Bible.
The security forces that moved against protesters at the White House included National Guard military police, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security police as well as District of Columbia police.
Just a few hours later, thousands of people marched through the streets of Brooklyn, shouting “justice now!” while cars drove alongside, some drivers honking in support while police vans followed.
A smaller march took place in Hollywood, where protesters defied a curfew imposed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to march to a line of police, where they knelt down with their arms raised.
‘MECHANICAL ASPHYXIATION’
Anti-police brutality marches and rallies, which have turned violent after dark each night over the last week, erupted over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died in Minneapolis police custody after being pinned beneath a white officer’s knee for nearly nine minutes.
A second autopsy ordered by Floyd’s family and released on Monday found that his death was a homicide by “mechanical asphyxiation,” meaning that physical force interfered with his oxygen supply. The report says three officers contributed to Floyd’s death.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner then released details of its autopsy findings that also said Floyd’s death was a homicide caused by asphyxiation. The county report added that Floyd suffered cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by police and that he had arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication, and recent methamphetamine use.
Derek Chauvin, the 44-year-old Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd, was arrested on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Three other officers involved in the arrest have not been charged.
Floyd’s death was the latest case of police brutality against black men caught on videotape and prompting an outcry over racism in U.S. law enforcement. It reignited simmering racial tensions in a politically divided country that has been hit hard by the pandemic, with African Americans accounting for a disproportionately high number of cases.
Dozens of cities across the United States remain under curfews not seen since riots after the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The National Guard deployed in 23 states and Washington, D.C.
The curfews were imposed as most Americans were still emerging from weeks of strict “stay-at-home” orders imposed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, dozens of people paid their respects to Floyd outside Cup Foods, the scene of his death, leaving flowers and signs. A little girl wrote, “I’ll fight with you,” in aqua blue chalk in the road.
“This is therapeutic. My heart was really heavy this morning so I came down extra early and when I got here, the heaviness lifted,” said Diana Jones, 40, the mother of four children. “This right here lets me know that things are going to be OK.”
Terrence Floyd, the victim’s brother, told the gathering he wanted people to get educated and vote rather than resort to violence and destruction. “Let’s do this another way,” he said.
Trump, a Republican, has condemned the killing of Floyd and promised justice but has described protesters as “thugs.”
Opponents accuse him of stoking conflict and racial tension when he should be uniting the nation and addressing underlying issues, and his campaign-style appearance at St. John’s Church sparked criticism.
“I am outraged,” Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which includes the church, said on CNN. Trump’s message was antithetical to church teachings, she said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized the use of force against demonstrators to make way for Trump to hold the picture-taking opportunity. “It was really, truly shameful,” he said.
Facebook employees walked away from their work-from-home desks on Monday and took to Twitter to accuse Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg of inadequately policing U.S. President Donald Trump’s posts as strictly as the rival platform has done.
Reuters saw dozens of online posts from employees critical of Zuckerberg’s decision to leave Trump’s most inflammatory verbiage unchallenged where Twitter had labeled it. Some top managers participated in the protest, reminiscent of a 2018 walkout at Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google over sexual harassment.
It was a rare case of staff publicly taking their CEO to the task, with one employee tweeting that thousands participated. Among them were all seven engineers on the team maintaining the React code library which supports Facebook’s apps.
“Facebook’s recent decision to not act on posts that incite violence ignores other options to keep our community safe. We implore the Facebook leadership to #TakeAction,” they said in a joint statement published on Twitter.
“Mark is wrong, and I will endeavor in the loudest possible way to change his mind,” wrote Ryan Freitas, identified on Twitter as director of product design for Facebook’s News Feed. He added he had mobilized “50+ like-minded folks” to lobby for internal change.
A Facebook employee said Zuckerberg’s weekly Friday question-and-answer session would be moved up this week to Tuesday.
Katie Zhu, a product manager at Instagram, tweeted a screenshot showing she had entered “#BLACKLIVESMATTER” to describe her request for time off as part of the walkout.
Facebook Inc (FB.O) will allow employees to participate in the protest to take the time off without drawing down their vacation days, spokesman Andy Stone said.
Separately, online therapy company Talkspace said it ended partnership discussions with Facebook. Talkspace CEO Oren Frank tweeted he would “not support a platform that incites violence, racism, and lies.”
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Tech workers at companies including Facebook, Google, and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) have pursued social justice issues in recent years, urging the companies to change policies.
Employees “recognize the pain many of our people are feeling right now, especially our Black community,” Stone wrote in a text.
“We encourage employees to speak openly when they disagree with leadership. As we face additional difficult decisions around content ahead, we’ll continue seeking their honest feedback.”
Last week, nationwide unrest erupted after the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis last Monday. Video footage showed a white officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes before he died.
On Friday, Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) affixed a warning label to a Trump tweet that included the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Twitter said it violated rules against glorifying violence but was left up as a public interest exception.
Facebook declined to act on the same message, and Zuckerberg sought to distance his company from the fight between the president and Twitter.
On Friday, Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post that while he found Trump’s remarks “deeply offensive,” they did not violate company policy against incitements to violence and people should know whether the government was planning to deploy force.
Zuckerberg’s post also said Facebook had been in touch with the White House to explain its policies.
Twitter used the same label as for Trump on Monday to hide a message by Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida that likened protesters to terrorists and called for them to be hunted down “like we do those in the Middle East.”
Gaetz said in response he would “see” Twitter in the Judiciary Committee.
Some of Facebook’s dissenting employees have praised Twitter for its response over Trump. Others, like Jason Toff, a director of product management and former head of short-form video app Vine, started organizing fundraisers for racial justice groups in Minnesota. Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook on Monday the company would contribute an additional $10 million to social justice causes.
Toff tweeted: “I work at Facebook and I am not proud of how we’re showing up. The majority of coworkers I’ve spoken to feel the same way. We are making our voice heard.”
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse peaceful demonstrators near the White House on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed a massive show of force to end violent protests over the death of a black man in police custody.
Law enforcement, including officers on horseback, moved on protesters in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House as Trump made his remarks from the Rose Garden.
The president pledged to end six nights of looting and violence in major cities across the nation “now,” saying that he would deploy the U.S. military if state governors refused to call out the National Guard.
“Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” Trump said. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
As the police action against protesters gave him safe passage, Trump walked from the White House to nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church along with other officials including U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Trump posed for photos holding up a Bible.
The security forces that moved against protesters at the White House included National Guard military police, Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security police as well as District of Columbia police.
Anti-police brutality marches and rallies, which have turned violent after dark each night over the last week, erupted over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died in Minneapolis police custody after being pinned beneath a white officer’s knee for nearly nine minutes.
A second autopsy ordered by Floyd’s family and released on Monday found that his death was a homicide by “mechanical asphyxiation,” meaning that physical force interfered with his oxygen supply. The report says three officers contributed to Floyd’s death.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner then released details of its autopsy findings that also said Floyd’s death was a homicide caused by asphyxiation. The county report added that Floyd suffered cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by police and that he had arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication, and recent methamphetamine use.
Derek Chauvin, the 44-year-old Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd, was arrested on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.
LATEST CASE OF POLICE BRUTALITY
Dozens of cities across the United States remain under curfews not seen since riots after the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The National Guard deployed in 23 states and Washington, D.C.
The curfews were imposed as most Americans were still emerging from weeks of strict “stay-at-home” orders imposed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, dozens of people paid their respects to Floyd outside Cup Foods, the scene of his death, leaving flowers and signs. A little girl wrote, “I’ll fight with you,” in aqua blue chalk in the road.
“This is therapeutic. My heart was really heavy this morning so I came down extra early and when I got here, the heaviness lifted,” said Diana Jones, 40, the mother of four children. “This right here let’s me know that things are going to be OK.”
Terrence Floyd, the victim’s brother, told the gathering he wanted people to get educated and vote rather than resort to violence and destruction. “Let’s do this another way,” he said.
Floyd’s death was the latest to prompt an outcry over racism in U.S. law enforcement. It reignited outrage across a politically and racially divided country that has been hit hard by the pandemic, with African Americans accounting for a disproportionately high number of cases.
Trump, a Republican, has condemned the killing of Floyd and promised justice but has described protesters as “thugs.”
Critics accuse him of stoking conflict and racial tension when he should be uniting the nation and addressing underlying issues, and his appearance at St. John’s Church sparked condemnation.
“I am outraged,” Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which includes the church, said on CNN. Trump’s message was antithetical to church teachings, she said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized the use of force against demonstrators to make way for Trump to hold the picture-taking opportunity. “It was really, truly shameful,” he said.
CNN's @DonLemon: "Open your eyes, America. Open your eyes. We are teetering on a dictatorship. This is chaos...."— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 2, 2020
"I'm listening. Is the President declaring war on Americans?!" pic.twitter.com/Jq6fv8veVI
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 2, 2020
ST. LOUIS pic.twitter.com/Bvpl5yL1Bz— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 2, 2020