Lafayette Square Cleared 'for a Photo Op'
■ The claim
Outlets reported that police tear-gassed peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square to clear the way for President Trump's walk to St. John's Church and his Bible photo op. NPR's headline stated the clearing was done to clear the way for the photo op.
■ What actually happened
The Interior Department Inspector General found the evidence did not support a finding that Park Police cleared the park so the president could walk to the church. Instead, the operation was planned so a contractor could safely install anti-scale fencing after two days of property damage and dozens of injured officers, and Park Police learned of the president's possible movement only in mid-to-late afternoon, after planning had begun. The report did not assess individual uses of force, did not interview the attorney general or White House officials, and found CS gas was used on 17th Street (not by Park Police), so the 'tear gas' element was not disproven, only the photo-op motive.
■ The proof
Interior Department OIG, Review of U.S. Park Police Actions at Lafayette Park (June 2021), Results in Brief.
■ Original reporting
- NPR: Peaceful Protesters Tear-Gassed To Clear Way For Trump Church Photo-Op (June 1, 2020)https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867532070/trumps-unannounced-church-visit-angers-church-officials
■ Corrections, findings & records
- Interior OIG: Review of U.S. Park Police Actions at Lafayette Park (report page)https://www.doioig.gov/reports/review/review-us-park-police-actions-lafayette-park
- Interior OIG report (PDF, June 2021)https://www.oversight.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2021-06/SpecialReviewUSPPActionsAtLafayetteParkPublic.pdf
- NPR: Watchdog report says police did not clear protesters to make way for Trump last year (June 9, 2021)https://www.npr.org/2021/06/09/1004832399/watchdog-report-says-police-did-not-clear-protesters-to-make-way-for-trump-last-y
- NBC News: Police did not clear D.C.'s Lafayette Park of protesters for Trump photo op, watchdog finds (June 9, 2021)https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/police-did-not-clear-d-c-s-lafayette-park-protestors-n1270126
■ Wayback Machine copies
Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.
- Archive copy: NPR: Peaceful Protesters Tear-Gassed To Clear Way For Trump Church Photo-Op (June 1, 2020)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867532070/trumps-unannounced-church-visit-angers-church-officials
■ Grade
DEBUNKED: Shown false by evidence or official findings, whether or not the outlet corrected it. How we grade →