–‘Law and Order’ President Threatens Military Force Across Couintry
By Denny Gulino
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – President Trump Monday posed with a Bible at a vandalized church across the street from the White House along with his defense secretary and attorney general declaring he is ending rioting and arson even if it takes active military force.
Police and National Guard cleared the way for the president using tear gas, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets. Protestors who had been orderly gave way without a fight.
The night before in the nation’s capital and in some of the dozens of other cities where people marched, protests turned violent after dark. Arson and looting were widespread. The basement children’s study room of St. John’s church where many presidents have attended services was burned.
The scene as documented by pool reporter Kadia Goba of BuzzFeed:
“Remnants of the gas deployed earlier irritated your pooler and others in the limited pool to the point some were coughing. H St. was littered with trash punctuated by newly boarded-up and graffitied buildings.
“POTUS, stood in front of St. John’s Church holding a bible. His daughter, Ivanka Trump, White House advisors Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Attorney General Bill Barr, Robert O’Brien and others stood to his right looking on. Ivanka Trump wore a black mask, as recommended by the WH COVID-19 experts, while others went maskless it appeared. POTUS held a large-ish bible in one hand and then in both hands for his one-man photo op. He was then joined by Barr, Meadows, O’Brien, and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany for more photos.
“He said the US was the “greatest country in the world” and “we’re going to keep it that way.
“The group walked back toward the White House after the short photoshoot virtually along the same path. As he neared the gates, the entourage of White House staff and officials fell back while the president enjoyed a lone walk towards the White House flanked by secret service officers in riot gear. “
For President Trump’s congressional backers, like Sen. Tom Cotton, his actions were overdue, forceful and decisive. For his critics, which included the Episcopal bishop overseeing the church, Trump was ham-handed and his use of force uncalled for.
“I am outraged,” Bishop Mariann Budde told CNN, that the president used tear gas to clear church grounds for a photo opportunity.
President Trump earlier stood in the Rose Garden as the sounds of the Lafayette Park disruption could be heard in the distance.
“As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property,” he said.
More than 200 military police were reportedly held in reserve but the operation to clear the park and surrounding streets, as a 7 p.m. curfew was about to take effect, was accomplished by the National Guard under federal control in the District of Columbia along with police from a reported 10 overlapping jurisdictions.
“If a city or a state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents,” Trump went on, “then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
He said, “I am your president of law and order.”
Whether the extraordinary step of deploying active military forces without the agreement of the governors involved was in dispute.
Several Democratic governors criticized Trump immediately following his walk to the church. N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, “I am shocked at what I saw.” He said he considered it “shameful” for the president to clear Lafayette Park for a photo op.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said a conference call among governors saw the president on a “crazy rant” calling for law enforcers to “dominate” the rioters.
Earlier the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and private medical examiners hired by the family pronounced the cause of George Floyd’s death was in fact asphyxiation just as depicted in cellphone videos of a Minneapolis policeman applying his knee to Floyd’s neck while bystanders pleaded to let him breathe.
The autopsies also noted heart disease, fentanyl intoxication and the prior use of methamphetamines, none of which were identified as contributing factors.
In New York Monday night looters hit a smoke shop until being chased by police. Twenty-four states had activated at least small numbers of National Guard and their national total was nearly 70,000, the most ever mobilized. More than two dozen major cities were imposing curfews.
Cable TV channels, whose coverage of President Trump diverged into more explicit criticisms by some anchors along ideological lines through the evening, showed crowds either marching or facing off against police lines in Seattle, Santa Monica, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Boston, Louisville, Oakland and several other cities. Innumerable smaller assemblies were taking place in smaller cities and their suburbs.
Some metro areas, like Minneapolis-St. Paul, were seeing somewhat less protest activity and were scaling back their police presence while extending curfews later in the week.
After a Louisville barbecue owner who had been serving police was shot dead by police early Monday the police chief was fired after it was discovered body cameras had not been turned on. That shooting prompted additional protests.The businessowner who shot a suspected looter to death in Omaha was not charged.
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Contact this reporter: denny@macenews.com.
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