An Army National Guard officer is contradicting everything Donald Trump, Attorney General William Barr, and U.S. Park Police have told Americans about their disastrous effort to forcefully clear protesters away from the White House last month so Trump could hoist an upside-down Bible over his head for the cameras.
The protesters were "behaving peacefully,” says Adam DeMarco, an Iraq War vet and major in the D.C. National Guard, and the Park Police deployed an "excessive use of force" against them, according to a written statement provided to the Natural Resources Committee.
The statement from DeMarco, who is scheduled to testify before Congress Tuesday, stands in stark contrast to what both Barr and acting Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan have said about the violence targeted at protesters in Lafayette Square on June 1. DeMarco also corroborates what other law enforcement officials previously told The Washington Post about the operation. Originally, they claimed the clearing was set to take place after the city's 7 PM curfew but then it was moved forward after Barr showed up in the park around 6 PM and ordered Park Police to expand the perimeter.
Monahan has tried to justify the clearing as an effort to make way for fencing being erected around the White House, but DeMarco, who served as a liaison between the Guard and the Park Police, said the fencing didn't even arrive until closer to 9 PM. DeMarco also said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued instructions for his forces to calmly engage protesters.
Several minutes before 6 PM, DeMarco writes, "From what I could observe, the demonstrators were behaving peacefully, exercising their First Amendment rights." Then came the walk-through by Barr and Milley, after which Barr went over to consult with Park Police and Milley approached the National Guard.
"As the senior National Guard officer on the scene at the time, I gave General Milley a quick briefing on our mission and the current situation. General Milley asked for an estimate of the number of demonstrators, and I estimated 2,000. General Milley told me to ensure that National Guard personnel remained calm, adding that we were there to respect the demonstrators’ First Amendment rights," writes DeMarco.
Milley's presence at the scene with Trump and Barr quickly became controversial after Park Police gassed the protesters and violently pushed them back using batons and riot gear. Milley later apologized in a recorded video, calling his presence inappropriate.
Here's how DeMarco describes watching a special Park Police unit push back the protesters.
From my vantage point, I saw demonstrators scattering and fleeing as the Civil Disturbance Unit charged toward them. I observed people fall to the ground as some Civil Disturbance Unit members used their shields offensively as weapons. As I walked behind the Civil Disturbance Units pushing westward on H Street, I also observed unidentified law enforcement personnel behind our National Guardsmen using “paintball-like” weapons to discharge what I later learned to be “pepper balls” into the crowd, as demonstrators continued to retreat.
DeMarco closed his statement with a quote from the late Rep. John Lewis: "When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something, to do something.”
DeMarco added that he felt compelled by the oath he took to protect and defend the Constitution to “to say something – and do something” about what he witnessed in Lafayette Square park on June 1.