BEATEN... WITH THE PRESIDENT’S BLESSING
POLICE USE BATONS, RUBBER BULLETS AND TEAR GAS TO CLEAR A PATH TO THE CHURCH
THEY came in peace to protest against police brutality but found themselves battered by law enforcement officers... on the orders of Donald Trump.
Religious leaders reacted with fury yesterday after baton-wielding officers used tear gas, flash grenades and rubber bullets to clear a path for the president to walk to a church opposite the White House – and then stand outside clutching a Bible for a photo opportunity.
Glenna Huber, a priest at The Church of the Epiphany, told of the moment police and members of the National Guard stormed the building in Washington DC.
‘I’m horrified,’ she posted on Facebook. ‘Just moments before we were handing out snacks and water. There was some men singing on the steps. People were chanting and peacefully assembling.
‘I left as the National Guard arrived. They sprayed tear gas. I was gone before the rubber bullets. And then the president spoke.’
Another rector, Gini Gerbasi, was handing out water when police arrived. ‘That man (Mr Trump) turned it into a BATTLE GROUND first, and a cheap political stunt second,’ she tweeted. The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, the Rev Mariann Budde, said she was ‘outraged’ by Mr Trump’s visit and noted that he didn’t pray while stopping by the church. Fellow bishop Michael Curry accused Mr Trump of using the church as a publicity stunt. ‘ In so doing, he used a church building and the Holy Bible for partisan political purposes,’ he tweeted.
Sky News correspondent Cordelia Lynch was among those reporting from the scene when security forces launched their assault. Her eyes streaming, Ms Lynch tweeted: ‘For the record, tear gas was dispersed.’
The nationwide protests were sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a 46-yearold African American, who died from asphyxiation after white policeman Derek Chauvin pinned him down by kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.
Chauvin, 44, has since been charged with murder but three officers who were with him as yet face no charges.
Mr Trump has promised justice. But he said rightful protests could not be drowned out by an ‘angry mob’ – and yesterday threatened to send in the US military. He said: ‘If a city or state refuses
to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.’
Dozens of cities are under curfew and the National Guard has been deployed in 23 states and Washington DC.
Mr Floyd’s brother, Terrence, has urged protesters and Black Lives Matter supporters to ‘get educated and vote’ rather than resort to violence and destruction. ‘Let’s do this another way,’ he said.
Prime minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said: ‘The violence which we’re seeing is clearly very alarming. People must be allowed to protest peacefully.’