A senior major in the D. C. National Guard later said the protestors‘ removal appeared to be an infringement of their First Amendment rights.
The acting chief of the U. S. Park Police defended the way his officers cleared Black Lives Matter demonstrators from near the White House last month, shortly before President Donald Trump’s walk to a historic church.
Gregory Monahan, testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee Tuesday, also claimed the White House did not give the order to clear the protesters from Lafayette Square, and that the action wasn’t related to Trump’s church visit, despite the timing. Trump arrived at the church within a half hour after police began pushing the protesters back.
Monahan’s testimony claiming officers followed all rules in a volatile situation paints a far different image than the prepared testimony from a senior major in the D. C. National Guard who later told the panel the protestors‘ removal was “deeply disturbing” and appeared to be an infringement of their First Amendment rights.
Monahan, offering the Trump administration’s perspective under oath for the first time, testified that no one at the White House — including Attorney General Bill Barr, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt — ordered the U. S. Park Police to clear Lafayette Square. The hearing comes the same day as Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are expected to press Barr about his role in the events in Lafayette Square.
“The United States Park Police acted with tremendous restraint in the face of severe violence from a large group of bad actors that again caused 50 of my officers to seek medical attention,” he testified. “Our operation was solely centered around the clearing of H Street and the north end of Lafayette Park to de-escalate the sustained level of violence that we saw over the previous three days and then again on June 1.
