Police didn't clear protesters from Lafayette Park for Trump photo op, IG report says


Police didn't clear protesters out of Lafayette Park in June 2020 so that former President Donald Trump could stage a photo op, according to a new inspector general report.
The Interior Department inspector general came to this conclusion in a report released Wednesday, which examined the circumstances under which U.S. Park Police controversially dispersed protesters in Washington, D.C. prior to Trump walking to St. John's Church for a photo-op on June 1, 2020, per NBC News.
"The evidence we obtained did not support a finding that the [U.S. Park Police] cleared the park to allow the president to survey the damage and walk to St. John's Church," the report says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Rather, the report says that police cleared the area so that a contractor could install antiscale fencing "in response to destruction of property and injury to officers occurring" in the previous days. The USPP wasn't aware of Trump's movement until "mid-to-late" afternoon that day, after it had already started to develop its operational plan, according to the report.
However, the inspector general found that Attorney General William Barr urged officials to speed up the clearing of the area once Trump had set his plans to walk through, according to NBC News. Barr, the IG found, asked the USPP operations commander, "Are these people still going to be here when POTUS comes out?" The commander reportedly responded, "Are you freaking kidding me?"
The report additionally concluded that while the USPP issued dispersal warnings to the crowd using a long-range acoustic device, "not everyone could hear the warnings," and the USPP's lack of a "detailed dispersal warning policy" may have "led to the ineffective warnings issued to the crowd." The IG also cited "weaknesses in communication and coordination," which "may have contributed to confusion during the operation and the use of tactics that appeared inconsistent with the incident commander's operational plan."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
The NCAA is a 'billion-dollar sports behemoth' that 'should not be a nonprofit'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLS
speed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National Guard
Speed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Trump-Putin: would land swap deal end Ukraine war?
Today's Big Question Ukraine ready to make 'painful but acceptable' territorial concessions – but it still might not be enough for Vladimir Putin
-
Israel: Losing the American public
Feature A recent poll finds American support for Israel's military action in Gaza has fallen from 50% to 32%
-
Unmaking Americans: Trump aims to revoke citizenship
Feature Trump is threatening to revoke the citizenship of foreign-born Americans. Could he do that?
-
Trump: Redesigning the White House
Feature Donald Trump unveiled a $200 million plan to build a White House ballroom
-
Texas gerrymander battle spreads to other states
Feature If Texas adopts its new electoral map, blue states plan to retaliate with Democrat-favored districts