Donald Trump’s walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church to stage a photo-op didn’t just get help from police and the military — Attorney General Bill Barr chipped in the full power of the Justice Department to strong-arm the protesters.
As Trump threatened to use the military against American citizens protesting against police brutality and racial injustice, protesters in Lafayette Square were being tear-gassed, targeted by flash-bangs and shot with rubber bullets to clear a path for Trump to cross the street to the church, where he held up a Bible for a photo-op pretending to be a tough guy who didn’t just hide in a bunker the night before.
But it also turns out that Trump had help from Barr, who ordered law enforcement officials to take to the streets to suppress protests.
According to the Washington Post:
Attorney General William P. Barr personally ordered law enforcement officials on the ground to extend the perimeter around Lafayette Square in Washington to push back protesters just before President Trump spoke Monday, a Justice Department official said.
That order came as clashes between police and the public continued to intensify, with largely peaceful daytime protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody descending into violence and chaos after dark, amid widespread curfews and National Guard deployments.”
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In fact, Huffington Post DOJ reporter Ryan Reilly reports that Barr deployed all of the law enforcement components under his jurisdiction, including the FBI, DEA and US Marshals to put down protests in the city and around the White House.
NEW: The Justice Department “has deployed all of its law enforcement components – FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals, and BOP” in the District of Columbia. pic.twitter.com/cnq5lFAUkI
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) June 2, 2020
Again, this was all so Trump could stage a photo-op pretending to be a Christian. And the White House even produced a propaganda video of the moment complete with triumphant music portraying Trump as some sort of hero.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 2, 2020
This is the stuff of authoritarian regimes and Barr is only aiding and abetting a hostile takeover of democracy while setting a match to the Constitution. America is now a complete police state, and conservatives who used to be against such a thing are now all for it.
Featured image via screen capture
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