The White House evacuated the press corps Monday night as civil unrest unfolded nearby, including an attempt to organize a "Black House Autonomous Zone" (BHAZ) in Lafayette Square, across the street from the executive mansion.
Protesters called the area they attempted to seal off BHAZ as they linked arms around a statue of former President Andrew Jackson, but police moved in during a "chaotic" scene, according to
Fox News.
"U.S. Park and D.C. police used a chemical irritant to disperse the crowd and officers were hit with objects," according to Fox News.
U.S. Secret Service confirmed early Tuesday that it had moved press out of the White House, saying "four members of the media were misdirected" to leave the grounds.
The journalists were told to the White House immediately through the South side of the complex, which is not a portal normally used for press, reports CNN, which had two members of its team there at the time. Evacuation of the press is unusual, CNN said, as press is usually locked down in place during crisis moment in the executive complex.
Tweets showed video of "B H A Z" being spray painted on pillars of the St. John's Church near the White House. It was the church famous for President Donald Trump's visit after it was sent on fire during George Floyd protests earlier this month.
Protesters tried to tear down a statue of former U.S. President Andrew Jackson on Monday near the White House, scrawling "killer scum" on the base and pulling at ropes around the figure of Jackson on a horse before police intervened.
Video footage posted to social media also showed demonstrators climbing on the bronze monument in Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, in the latest bid to destroy images of historical figures considered racist or divisive.
Police in riot gear are then seen moving in to drive the crowd back and form a protective ring around the statue, which was erected in 1852 on a white marble base and depicts Jackson astride a rearing horse.
Earlier, protesters clashed with police in the nearby streets, the latest in a string of demonstrations against police brutality and racism following the death of a 46-year-old black man Floyd, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
Jackson, the seventh U.S. president, was a former general in the U.S. Army and a populist politician nicknamed "Old Hickory," whose political style has sometimes been compared with that of President Donald Trump.
Native American activists have long criticized Jackson, a Democrat, for signing during his 1829-37 presidency the Indian Removal Act, in which thousands of people were driven from their land by the U.S. government.
Forced to march West in what was described as the "Trail of Tears," thousands of Native Americans died before reaching their intended destination.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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