Attorney General William Barr went on CBS News' Face the Nation Sunday morning to rewrite history regarding the federal troops who, at his direction, violently cleared protesters from Lafayette Square park last Monday—an act that clearly hasn't played well with the public.
As journalist Margaret Brennan grilled Barr about the over-the-top use of force against peaceful protesters, Barr spun a fanciful web of lies.
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"They were not peaceful protesters," Barr claimed. "And that's one of the big lies that the, the media is—seems to be perpetuating at this point."
Brennan called bullshit immediately. "Three of my CBS colleagues were there. We talked to them," she said. "They did not hear warnings. They did not see protesters throwing anything."
Brennan's information matches the account of MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake, who was on the scene for hours and completely contradicted Barr's reimagining of events. "I want to be super clear," Haake said, "nothing happened on the side of the protesters. [...] It was by far the most peaceful day of protest that we have had in D.C. since this started on Friday night."
But Barr continued making things up.
"There were three warnings," Barr claimed. Later he added: "The park police was facing what they considered to be a very rowdy and noncompliant crowd. And there were projectiles being hurled at the police."
Notice Barr's use of "what they considered"—it's not an assertion that the crowd was actually rowdy and noncompliant, a conclusion that runs counter to all video evidence of the encounter. It's an assertion that park police perceived them to be rowdy.
Brennan again challenged Barr. "As I'm saying, three of my colleagues were there," she noted, "They did not see projectiles being thrown—"
Barr grew almost testy. "I was there. They were thrown. I saw them thrown."
Oh. Barr was observing this whole encounter. That's news. How come he never told us before?
Barr spent a lot of the interview trying to conflate Monday's gassing of the nonviolent protesters with looting and rioting that had happened on Sunday. He also argued over whether the gas used in the gassing was "tear gas." Eye witnesses on the scene said the gas clearly was a chemical irritant; Barr called it "pepper spray" and "pepper balls" and claimed that "there were no chemical irritants." Barr also claimed the clearing of the park had absolutely nothing to do with Trump's photo op.
Barr can claim whatever he wants. There's video evidence—Americans can see for themselves. There are pictures. There are eye witnesses. And the idea that the timing of this clearing just happened to be minutes before Trump's stroll through the park is laughable.
Barr is a flat-out liar. He's also a power-hungry tyrant with zero respect for even-handed justice. The more he tells obvious lies about entirely verifiable events, the more he loses credibility, and the better it is for the rule of law in this country.
