What really happened before President Trump’s walk to church


On Monday, President Trump stunned onlookers by walking unabashedly through the park where violent protesters had taken control on previous nights. His destination: a nearby church that rioters had burned.

After the President’s show of strength, which was shown live on cable news, many in the media criticized him for it. They also claimed that peace-loving demonstrators had been shamefully and unjustifiably tear-gassed away from the park just prior to Trump’s walk.

According to a press release from the United States Park Police, that media version isn’t true.

The Park Police said that prior to Trump’s stroll, “violent protestors on H Street NW began throwing projectiles including bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids. The protestors also climbed onto a historic building at the north end of Lafayette Park that was destroyed by arson days prior. Intelligence had revealed calls for violence against the police, and officers found caches of glass bottles, baseball bats and metal poles hidden along the street.”

Violent protestors on H Street NW began throwing projectiles including bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids. The protestors also climbed onto a historic building at the north end of Lafayette Park that was destroyed by arson days prior. Intelligence had revealed calls for violence against the police, and officers found caches of glass bottles, baseball bats and metal poles hidden along the street.

U.S. Park Police

The Park Police say the rioters were warned and then cleared, without the use of tear gas (contrary to media reports), and the police had to fight back further attacks. Rioters reportedly tried to grab police officers’ weapons.

The press release points out “During four days of demonstrations, 51 members of the USPP were injured; of those, 11 were transported to the hospital and released and three were admitted.”

Read the press release from the U.S. Park Police below:

The United States Park Police (USPP) is committed to the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights. However, this past weekend’s demonstrations at Lafayette Park and across the National Mall included activities that were not part of a peaceful protest, which resulted in injuries to USPP officers in the line of duty, the destruction of public property and the defacing of memorials and monuments. During four days of demonstrations, 51 members of the USPP were injured; of those, 11 were transported to the hospital and released and three were admitted.

Multiple agencies assisted the USPP in responding to and quelling the acts of destruction and violence over the course of the weekend in order to protect citizens and property.

On Monday, June 1, the USPP worked with the United States Secret Service to have temporary fencing installed inside Lafayette Park.  At approximately 6:33 pm, violent protestors on H Street NW began throwing projectiles including bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids. The protestors also climbed onto a historic building at the north end of Lafayette Park that was destroyed by arson days prior. Intelligence had revealed calls for violence against the police, and officers found caches of glass bottles, baseball bats and metal poles hidden along the street.

To curtail the violence that was underway, the USPP, following established policy, issued three warnings over a loudspeaker to alert demonstrators on H Street to evacuate the area. Horse mounted patrol, Civil Disturbance Units and additional personnel were used to clear the area. As many of the protestors became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls. No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park. Subsequently, the fence was installed.

Throughout the demonstrations, the USPP has not made any arrests. The USPP will always support peaceful assembly but cannot tolerate violence to citizens or officers or damage to our nation’s resources that we are entrusted to protect.

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16 thoughts on “What really happened before President Trump’s walk to church”

  1. This total conflict of “information” is what’s polarizing and tearing this country apart. Too many People ignorantly cling to certain information sources as ‘gospel’ and the far Left knows this.

    Certain main stream Media outlets have gone beyond fake news. They’re now full fledged political propaganda arms designed to influence low information seeking People into accepting a new form of government unquestioningly.

  2. Interesting slant on what was seen live on cable TV…Fox or CNN…as a peaceful demonstration. Any video of what USPP is claiming? Such video did show tear gas, so why the claim it was not? And Ms. Attkisson your opening paragraph reminds me how Wikimedia slants their writing when it comes to you…it implies there were no peaceful demonstrators present only the nuts from the night before who did start a fire in the church and I hope they find them!

    1. Sharyl Attkisson

      It sounds like what you mistook for tear gas was smoke canisters and pepper balls. Please read the info from USPP. A lot of laypeople mix up what they see and think it’s all “tear gas.” This is not uncommon.

  3. It seems that now, in our country, in order to grasp the meaning of news, we must ignore, for the most part, established media sources. Legacy need is now a major part of the problem. They now no longer look out for the people. By all indications, the “so-called” national legacy media is part and parcel of the increasingly strident and dishonest national media working very hard to throw the upcoming election.
    God help us all.

      1. Instead of Legacy need, right? I read this twice, thinking what the hell is this guy talking about, albeit eloquent….then I saw your Oops! Well said, dude!

  4. Unfortunately, the main stream media continues to betray the country, Honesty is a foreign word to them.

    Sharyl, thank you for your great work. You are one of the few true journalists in America.

    1. Sam, I concur. Sharyl, do you have any news groups/sources that you prefer over the more common ones, who tend to twist and distort the news? We really need more facts, and less editorializing, so if you’ve come across a source, we’d like to hear about it.

  5. What would an enemy of the United States and it’s people do but intentionally try to inflame passions by spreading misinformation during such a time?
    Our own media are truly enemies of the people!

  6. Unfortunately, what REALLY is tragic is that even Fox News is allowing whoever they are “interviewing” AND they’re own commentators, ie. Juan Williams, to get away with “spinning” the false narrative that the “peaceful protesters” were teargassed and beaten back to let the President walk unassinated (my spin) to a “photo op” at St. John’s Church. Then we have the mere mortal Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese condemning the President for visiting his HOUSE of GOD, not GOD’s HOUSE of GOD. When I asked God how HE felt about that HE told me that HE doesn’t mind that us mere mortals, no matter who we think we are, stopping by HIS HOUSE OF WORSHIP for any reason as long as it isn’t ARSON. And if I do say so myself, I think the Archbishop condemning the President for this is a bit hypocritical since I never heard him speak up to condemn all those Catholic priests that raped and molested thousands of Jesus’s precious children all those years.

    1. My husband told me “unassassinated” is not a word, (duh), and that I sounded dumb. I told him it was my spin. He asked if I had put it in quotations…well,no….so when I looked at it again and realized that I misspelled assassinated you can imagine how dumb I felt. But you guys get it, right? Thanks, husband.

  7. I do not understand why the rioters are not arrested. We are not watching protests; we’re watching activities intended to destabilize our country, which means insurrection. That is a serious crime. Those rioting may be paid pawns, but arrests and interrogations could reveal who is behind all this. The old, uncorrupted FBI could have been organizing arrests throughout the country with the goal of conviction and long imprisonment for the planners and funders of these activities. This has nothing to do with peaceful protest; insofar as protesters are standing against genocide, they are protesting an easily disproved lie.

  8. I think they’ve lost sight of what they’re protesting, if in fact they knew in the first place. The reporters (boots on the ground) who were right-smack-dab in the middle of them and attempted to actually talk to some of them, besides being extremely brave and risking their own lives (ie. Leland Vittert, Fox News), were 9 out of 10 times given the run-around. And if you watched many of the “marches” with the sound muted they eerily looked like just a whole bunch of kids in “downtown New Orleans on Fat Tuesday dancing, singing,and carrying on celebrating the Mardi Gras. But they weren’t just a bunch of kids. And it wasn’t only a town in Louisiana. It was A WHOLE LOT OF OUR beautiful American cities destroyed by this display of hatred towards the people who were there to protect us. The policy of “catch and release, no bail” is a lesson in futility and the epitome of ignorance. Then to top it all off….grown WHITE men (Biden, Garcetti) dropped to their knees before BLACK, excuse me….African-American men, who remained standing, who formed a circle around them (Garcetti),AND going so far as to take a photo between the legs of (I can only assume, and rightfully so) a person of color. I AM DISGUSTED by the optics of that. And I will not apologize for the way I feel about this whole display of madness. FEELINGS are neither right nor wrong, and this is far from Kaepernick’s original, obnoxious but not as deadly “police brutality protests during our National Anthem”. In my opinion, the majority of these people protesting DO NOT have a clue about the severity of what they are doing and they are being used by people who DO KNOW exactly what they are doing….which is to bring President Trump to his knees and (in the words of our illustrious Congressman Nadler during their failed Impeachment fiasco) ” BE MADE TO HEEL”.

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