An attorney who represents D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department is sharing why the department used tear gas on protesters near Lafayette Square in June of 2020, where former President Donald Trump had a “photo op.”
Just moments before Trump walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church on June 1, 2020, protesters were “forcefully cleared” from the area, as WUSA reports.
MOMENTS AGO: President Trump stands in front of St. John's Church holding a Bible.
— The Hill (@thehill) June 1, 2020
Trump: "We have a great country. That's my thoughts. Greatest country in the world… It's coming back. It's coming back strong." pic.twitter.com/SeDH3pX7AV
This was 25mins before the curfew. There was no obvious warning to protesters to leave. I didn't see a single thing thrown at police, compared to Sunday when there was a lot (and they stood their ground until fires were set around 10pm). And still they fired volley after volley.
— Alex Marquardt (@MarquardtA) June 2, 2020
During a court hearing Friday, attorney Richard Sobiecki, representing D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), explained why the department chose to use tear gas.
“The curfew, violence of past nights, chaos created by federal defendants, discharge of tear gas in that direction was not unreasonable,” Sobiecki said, according to WUSA.
He argued the protesters’ constitutional rights were not violated because officers “did not target specific protesters.”
ACLU attorney Scott Michelman, the lead attorney for the protesters, claimed the “day was scarring in multiple ways.”
“They suggested at various points they were encouraging people to move south on 17th street,” Michelman said.
He continued, “And that was encouraging via tear gas. That day was scarring in multiple ways, just in terms of the unexpected nature of the attack, the brutality of it, and the betrayal that many of them felt.”
The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman noted on Twitter that Trump allies previously claimed tear gas was not used and they attacked “journalists who said it was.”
This shouldn’t get overlooked. There were a zillion fauxtrage articles and tweets from Trump allies, claiming tear gas wasn’t used and attacking journalists who said it was. https://t.co/xzPGECHTZa
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 30, 2021
Justice Department attorneys defended former Trump administration officials and federal police commanders, saying the tear gas was needed to protect the former president from an “unscreened crowd” before making his way to the church.
The attorneys also argued the protesters can’t “claim their ability to protest in the future is at risk” because there is a new administration, according to WUSA.
The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, said Trump used the church as a “prop” for his photo.