PANICKED Trump GOES NUCLEAR after Scandal GETS WORSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syp2z0_6WR0

The Park Police’s Account of Lafayette Square Attack Doesn’t Add Up – Mother Jones

Many questions linger over what led to the events outside in the White House on June 1 in Lafayette Square, wherein US Park Police attacked peaceful protesters with tear gas and excessive force moments before Donald Trump strolled through the park for a photo op in front of a nearby church. The USPP has insisted that the reason for the crackdown wasn’t for Trump’s photo op, but instead to install a new perimeter fence. The agency has also maintained that the protesters weren’t peaceful, which necessitated the use of force and defensive weapons to clear the park. But during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the incident on Tuesday, both of these assertions were called into question by Democratic lawmakers and a National Guard whistleblower who testified that the USPP engaged in “an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force.” https://www.motherjones.com/anti-racism-police-protest/2020/07/the-park-polices-account-of-lafayette-square-attack-doesnt-add-up/

Officials familiar with Lafayette Square confrontation challenge Trump administration claim of what drove aggressive expulsion of protesters - The Washington Post

During the nearly two weeks since authorities charged at peaceful protesters to push them from D.C. streets — about 30 minutes before President Trump walked through the area for a photo op — his aides, the attorney general and federal law enforcement officials have sought to shield the president from political fallout with a simple defense: One scene, they say, had nothing to do with the other. The notion that the street-clearing offensive around Lafayette Square was already planned, and separate from Trump’s decision to visit a nearby church, has emerged as the administration’s central explanation for scenes of federal officers shoving protesters with shields and firing pepper balls, chemical grenades and smoke bombs at retreating crowds on June 1. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/officials-challenge-trump-administration-claim-of-what-drove-aggressive-expulsion-of-lafayette-square-protesters/2020/06/14/f2177e1e-acd4-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html

Secret Service now says it did use pepper spray to clear protesters during the Trump church photo op

The Secret Service's statement is the latest reversal from law enforcement agencies about what occurred in the moments leading up to President Donald Trump's walk outside the White House gates.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/secret-service-now-says-it-did-use-pepper-spray-clear-n1231022

Attorney General Barr’s dishonest defense of the clearing of Lafayette Square - The Washington Post

It has been a week since the violent outgrowth of protests centered on police brutality was at its apex. The death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police prompted a national mobilization, demonstrations that were occasionally used as pretexts or jumping-off points for vandalism and looting. In recent days, that pattern has eased. It has been a week, too, since the most infamous response to a protest took place.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/08/attorney-general-barrs-dishonest-defense-clearing-lafayette-square/

Video timeline of Trump’s St. John’s church photo op and Lafayette Square crackdown - The Washington Post

Late in the day on June 1, demonstrators gathered near the White House, on the edge of Lafayette Square, to protest police abuse following the death in custody of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Similar protests had erupted across the country. Many were peaceful, but some included property destruction and clashes with police. ....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2020/06/08/timeline-trump-church-photo-op/

Maine COVID-19 test swab factory destroys all swabs that were made during Trump's maskless visit

The impeached, popular vote-losing U.S. president stomped around one of just two manufacturers of the nasal swabs required to test patients for the novel coronavirus on Friday, predictably refusing to wear a mask. Shortly after he left, all of the swabs produced during Donald Trump’s factory photo op were destroyed, according to a company spokesperson. https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/6/6/1951074/-Maine-COVID-19-test-swab-factory-destroys-all-swabs-that-were-made-during-Trump-s-maskless-visit

Operation Photo Op

https://youtu.be/aoaOTrgSvlI

Trump’s Bible photo op cleaves white evangelical loyalists into two camps

Ardent supporters saw the photo op as a blow against evil while others saw the gesture as cynical and a ploy
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/04/trumps-bible-photo-op-splits-white-evangelicals

'He wears the armor of God': evangelicals hail Trump's church photo op

The president’s appeal to his base amid protests was derided by some Christians. Others saw a victory in a world of evil
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/03/donald-trump-church-photo-op-evangelicals

Trump demands journalists correct stories on the use of tear gas. According to the CDC, it was tear gas. - The Washington Post

President Trump’s reelection campaign sent a message out to news organizations Tuesday night, demanding a correction to articles that described security forces’ use of tear gas to disperse demonstrators outside the White House on Monday, to allow Trump to cross the street to pose for photos at a church. The U.S. Park Police had earlier released a statement defending that effort, saying that their use of chemical agents against the crowd came in response to violence from protesters, and that it involved “pepper balls” and “smoke canisters.” The statement went on to assert that “no tear gas was used” in the Lafayette Square incident. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/trump-demands-journalists-correct-stories-on-the-use-of-tear-gas-according-to-the-cdc-it-was-tear-gas/2020/06/02/bf68726c-a544-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html

GOP senator: Trump used 'the Word of God as a political prop' | TheHill

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Tuesday he disagreed with the decision to forcefully clear protesters from around Lafayette Square for a "photo op" and accused President Trump of using the Bible as a "political prop."
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/500759-sasse-trump-used-the-word-of-god-as-a-political-prop

'They turned holy ground into a battleground': clergy teargassed by Washington police

Christian leaders among peaceful protesters swept aside
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/02/clergy-priests-attacked-police-washington-dc-st-john-church-trump-photo-op