Barr says DC security efforts will continue
AG mentions long list of agencies being deployed
If Monday night’s show of force that broke up a peaceful protest in the shadow of the White House wasn’t enough, Attorney General William Barr vowed there is more to come.
After offering thanks Tuesday to a legion of military and law enforcement officials, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, for their efforts Monday, Barr warned that “even greater law enforcement resources” would be deployed to keep the peace in D.C.
“The most basic function of government is to provide security for people to live their lives and exercise their rights, and we will meet that responsibility here in the nation’s capital,” Barr said in a statement.
In addition to military units, the attorney general referred to a long list of forces that would probably make a return appearance Tuesday night. At least a dozen agencies in all have been thrust into the mix, with more to come.
Among them: the FBI; the Secret Service; the U.S. Park Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Marshals Service; the U.S. Capitol Police; at least two Department of Homeland Security agencies; the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and “others.”
The government’s enforcement action Monday prompted criticism from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and religious leaders assailed President Donald Trump for clearing the streets so he could be photographed in front of St. John’s Church, a historic worship center on the edge of Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.
D.C., like other cities, has been the scene of violent protests after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police. An officer who pinned Floyd’s neck to the ground with his knee was charged with murder and manslaughter.
Critics hammered Trump for using police, armed with tear gas and shields, to clear protesters from the Lafayette Square area to provide him cover for Monday night’s brief event outside the church, where the president posed with a Bible.
“Tear-gassing peaceful protesters without provocation just so that the president could pose for photos outside a church dishonors every value that faith teaches us,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement.
The attorney general appeared satisfied with the outcome.
“Last night was a more peaceful night in the District of Columbia,” Barr said. “Working together, federal and local law enforcement made significant progress in restoring order to the nation’s capital.”
“The most basic function of government is to provide security for people to live their lives.”
Attorney General William Barr