Attorney General William Barr on Sunday refuted the suggestion that George Floyd protesters in Washington, D.C., were peaceful — and insisted they were given warnings before a chaotic and violent dispersal last week.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Barr defended the actions taken to quell “violet riots” at Lafayette Square last week.
“They were not peaceful protesters,” he said. “And that's one of the big lies that the media seems to be perpetuating at this point,” he charged.
“On Friday, Saturday and Sunday [May 29-31], there were violent riots at Lafayette Park where the park police were under constant attack behind their bike rack fences,” he said.
“On Sunday, things reached a crescendo. The officers were pummeled with bricks. Crowbars were used to pry up the pavers at the park and they were hurled at police. There were fires set in not only St. John's Church, but a historic building at Lafayette was burned down.”
When host Margaret Brennan said “these were things that looters did,” Barr fired back: “Not looters, these were the violent rioters who dominated Lafayette Park.”
According to Barr, the confrontation “has been totally obscured by the media.”
“They broke into the Treasury Department, and they were injuring police… Sunday night,” he said. “The park police prepared a plan to clear H Street and put a larger perimeter around the White House so they could build a more permanent fence on Lafayette.”
“The park police was facing what they considered to be a very rowdy and non-compliant crowd. And there were projectiles being hurled at the police,” he added.
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