Correction [12/10/21, 1:40 p.m. ET]: The article previously incorrectly stated that Trump made the comments on June 1, 2020, the day of the Bible “photo op.” However, Trump made the “bust some heads” remark on June 22, 2020, in response to Black Lives Matter protesters.
Former President Donald Trump had an order for his former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to “bust some heads” of Black Lives Matter protesters, according to a book.
In a new book, “The Chief’s Chief,” Meadows writes that on June 22, 2020, Trump ordered him to “bust some heads” and make arrests, as protesters were “climbing on Lafayette Park’s famous statue of Andrew Jackson,” according to Rolling Stone.
Trump was reportedly “upstairs in the Residence” and “growing anxious” as he “had given an order for the park to be cleared, and it was not being followed.”
Meadows continued, “The various law enforcement agencies that were supposed to be under the command of [former Attorney General] Bill Barr were clearly not communicating with one another, and it did not seem that a single arrest had yet been made.”
After alerting Trump that protesters were “trying to tear down statues and vandalizing the park,” Meadows asked Trump on the phone, “I assume that we have the authority to deploy whatever law enforcement is necessary to fix this?”
“President Trump had had enough,” Meadows writes. “‘Not only do you have the authority,’ he said. ‘I want you to go out there and bust some heads and make some arrests. We need to restore order.'”
In his book, the former chief of staff says that he was “not quite prepared to crack anything.” However, Meadows says he went to the White House front door and spoke with the head of the Secret Service.
“I pointed out that we had orders from President Trump to open up Pennsylvania Avenue,” Meadows writes. “The leaders of these forces were resisting, but it was clear that the officers on the ground felt the same way President Trump did.”
Meadows’ book was published on Tuesday.